Hysterical pet owners fearing coronavirus ‘asking vets to euthanize their dogs’

Panicked dog owners have been asking a vet to euthanize their pets over coronavirus fears, it has been claimed. The Southern Cross Veterinary Clinic in Australia says it has received three calls in just two weeks from anxious clients who fear their animals could infect them with the potentially deadly virus and want them put to be put to sleep. But vet Dr Sam Kovac has refused these requests, as there is no evidence that dogs can transmit Covid-19 to humans.

Pointing out it is unlikely his clients would consider euthanizing an elderly relative, he said: “The last thing we need to do is create mass hysteria about the possibility of dogs being infected, and therefore potentially transmitting this virus when there is absolutely no evidence for this whatsoever. If you’d ask the same clients if they’d euthanize their grandma, they’d say no. Why have a pet and treat it differently to how you’d treat another family member?”

Speaking to 10 Daily, the vet, who works in St Peters, Sydney, also urged people not to stop taking their dogs for walks in the park. Although dogs can contract canine coronavirus, it is not the same form of the virus as Covid-19, which has now killed more than 3,000 people worldwide. It is believed that the global epidemic, which started in Wuhan, China, originated in bats but was transferred to humans from pangolins, a mammal covered in distinctive scales. “If my dog Clara had been infected with [Covid-19], I would isolate her, I would wear protective equipment while interacting with her and feeding her and isolate her for a few weeks,” he continued.  –Mirror

On a tree-lined block an hour outside Boston sits a secret warehouse filled with hundreds of boxes labeled “pandemic product.” The boxes, containing items like IV fluid, medical gloves and protective gowns, remain shrink-wrapped in neat rows inside the facility until the day Massachusetts General Hospital orders an emergency infusion of supplies. With the coronavirus spreading across the U.S., that day may soon be approaching.

“We are trying to hold out as long as we can to tap into that warehouse, because we think there’s a chance we will see sustained transmission in the community,” said Dr. Paul Biddinger, chief of the division of emergency preparedness at Mass General, noting that the facility “takes us through the worst two weeks.” Calculations like these are being made by health care professionals across the country as hospital systems eye their own supplies in preparation for an influx of patients needing treatment from the coronavirus illness, COVID-19. So far, 18 states have reported more than 100 coronavirus cases, and 11 people have died from the disease in the U.S. On Wednesday, congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal to provide nearly $8 billion in emergency funding to fight the disease.  –NBC