A local government in Australia shot and killed rescue dogs because they feared that COVID-19 would spread if people traveled to the shelter to pick them up. The killing of the animals has ignited outrage, and many commenters believe Australia is suffering from coronavirus “hysteria.”
The governing body in the Orana region of New South Wales declared that several rescued dogs at a shelter were a health hazard, so the council had the animals shot to death.
The Bourke Shire Council “killed the dogs to prevent volunteers at a Cobar-based animal shelter from traveling to pick up the animals last week, according to the council’s watchdog,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
According to the NSW Health website, there were no recent coronavirus cases in the town of Cobar, but there were fragments of COVID-19 detected in the area’s sewage treatment plant.
A spokesperson for the Office of Local Government, which holds the local government sector in Australia accountable for its actions, said, “OLG has been informed that the council decided to take this course of action to protect its employees and community, including vulnerable Aboriginal populations, from the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”
Hellbound and Down 