- As the mystery surrounding the source of the killer SARS
virus continues, rumours that animals or pets could carry the disease may
have turned some of man's best friends into Hong Kong's worst enemies.
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- Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has now killed
82 people in the city and infected more than 1,300.
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- However, six weeks after erupting in the city, officials
remain unsure of the virus' exact mode of transmission.
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- After declaring shortly after the outbreak the SARS virus
was transmitted by droplets from sneezing or coughing, authorities were
forced to backtrack after an intense outbreak at Amoy Garden public housing
estate infected hundreds of residents.
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- Health experts investigating the block speculated that
rats or cockroaches could have carried infected waste from sewage pipes
into the flats.
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- However, it was reports that a cat owned by a family
in the infected block had been reportedly carrying a coronoavirus that
sent frightened petowners rushing to dump their furry friends back at the
nearest pet shop.
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- Mannie Yiu, 31, said she had been forced to reluctantly
hand her three-year-old Scottish terrier "Gum Gum" to relatives
two weeks ago after residents in her housing complex lodged numerous complaints
to management.
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- "When rumours that pets could transmit the SARS
virus began, people in our housing block got scared and demanded we get
rid of him (Gum Gum)," she said.
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- "When we refused they started to complain to the
management.
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- "One man said he would throw him out of the window
if it went near his flat ... eventually they held a house committee meeting
and voted that we could not keep him so we had to give him to my elder
cousin."
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- The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(SPCA) in Hong Kong said there had been a surge in petowners trying to
return their animals due to the outbreak of SARS which has struck fear
into many residents.
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- "There has been a increase of animals being left
on our doorsteps and being left in the streets in cages - rabbits, hamsters,
mainly furry animals which were associated with causing chest infections,"
SPCA acting executive director Pauline Taylor said.
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- "The number of phone calls from concerned petowners
has also increased.
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- "But we have told them that their is no evidence
to suggest pets are involved in the transmission of SARS and we have urged
them to keep their pets.
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- "When SARS first hit the headlines there was huge
panic.
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- But now people are generally being more sensible than
a few weeks ago," she said.
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- A shop assistant at Q-Pets pet store, Jamie Chan, also
said there had been "a number" of owners who had tried to return
rabbits and guinea pigs.
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- "We have turned down most requests, but last week
we had to take back one white rabbit after its owner bought it back and
threatened to kill it if we didn't accept it," she said.
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- Renewed fears over animals emerged on Wednesday after
a team of Hong Kong scientists confirmed the coronavirus which sparked
the global SARS outbreak had come from animals.
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- "It comes from an animal source, but at this stage,
we don't know what animal," Malik Peiris, chief of virology at the
faculty of medicine at the University of Hong Kong.
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- However, "it is possible to conclusively say it
is a new virus," not of any kind seen before, he said.
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- The news was greeted with a mixed response from petowners
in the territory.
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- "If it is proven that there is a link, then I will
be forced to get rid of 'A-Mui' - we have kids and we have to protect their
health at all costs," Timothy Cheung, said who was out walking his
7-year-old spaniel.
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- However, Li Kwok-hung proved that the bond between man
and dog remained strong, at least among some owners in Hong Kong.
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- "Doesn't matter if there is a link or not - Prince
has been with us for seven years now and he's part of the family - anyway,
my kids would kill me if I got rid of him."
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- http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s836135.htm
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