Video of pet corgi being beaten with crowbar while owner was in quarantine draws outrage in China

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Editor’s Note: This article discusses animal abuse. The video contained in this article contains disturbing and violent imagery.

A chilling video showing two health workers beating a pet corgi to death with a metal rod while its owner was in a quarantine facility in China has caused outrage on Chinese social media over the weekend.

No mercy: The incident was captured inside the home of a pet owner, only identified as surname Fu, in the city of Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, on Friday, according to CNN. Fu was reportedly under a mandatory quarantine at a nearby hotel when the health workers barged into her apartment.

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  • Since Fu could not bring her dog with her, local health workers assured her that they would take care of her pet corgi in her absence, reported National Public Radio. Instead of taking care of the animal, the health personnel were recorded entering Fu’s home and  beating her pet to death with a metal rod.
  • “Did the leader say we need to settle it right here on the spot?” one of them reportedly asked. “Yes,” the other person replied. The health workers then tried to hit the corgi that was hiding under the table on the head. The injured animal then ran to another room outside the camera’s field of vision.
  • “The dog tried to avoid the beating and fled into the bedroom, and therefore it wasn’t recorded by surveillance camera, but [I] could hear faint wails,” the owner said in a now-deleted Weibo post. “A few minutes later, they said they’d dealt with it and would take it away, holding a yellow plastic bag in their hands.”

The confirmation: On Saturday, Xinzhou district officials confirmed in a statement that Fu’s dog was killed by the health personnel who entered her home. They explained that the incident was part of its effort to “thoroughly disinfect” houses in the area as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country.

  • Officials also said health workers opened the pet owner’s home by force in the presence of the police, as those entering quarantine are  instructed to leave their doors open when they leave.
  • Authorities later apologized to Fu for the incident. The workers have also been fired for “the harmless disposal of a pet dog without having fully communicated with the pet owner,” a statement posted on Chinese social media reads.
  • Fu said local officials and her employer urged her to take down her post on social media about the incident after it went viral.
  • One of the top comments on Chinese social media criticized the government’s handling of Fu’s case, particularly their decision to kill the dog before testing it for COVID-19. Other commenters voiced their support of the health officials’ actions, saying the corgi’s death was for the “greater good” and pointing out that human lives are more important.

Featured Image via Pixabay

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