Several dogs, who were to be rescued, were shot dead in rural Australia due to a local council’s interpretation of the country’s COVID-19 blocking restrictions.
The Bourke Shire Council, in the north-west region of New South Wales, executed the confiscated puppies to prevent volunteers at an animal shelter from traveling to pick up and rescue the animals last week, and potentially , spread the virus. Local government office [OLG] he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“OLG has been informed that the council decided to take this line of action to protect its employees and the community, including vulnerable Aboriginal populations, from the risk of COVID-19 transmission,” a spokesman for the government agency.
The spokesman also said officials were investigating whether animal cruelty rules were being breached.
Sources told The Herald that shelter volunteers already had security measures in place against COVID to handle the dogs (one of whom was a new mother), making the killings completely unnecessary.
The Herald said it had not received any response to its inquiries with the Bourke Shire Council administration. The shelter that the dogs were supposed to receive refused to comment.
Australia has recently experienced a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, which has forced Sydney, the country’s largest city, to extend its blockade until September and implement tougher measures to curb the delta variant of coronavirus on Friday, including the imposition of a curfew and an outdoor mask warrant.