Covid: Australia shoots dogs rather than have them rescued

Local government officials in Australia had dogs due to be rescued from a council pound shot dead, to stop shelter workers from going to pick them up during Covid.

Bourke Shire Council in the state of New South Wales — currently subject to draconian lockdown measures — euthanised the dogs by shooting them dead over concerns that rescuers from the Rural Outback Respite/Rescue shelter in the neighbouring shire of Cobar might expose them to infection during the planned handover, according to the Office of Local Government (OLG).

The move has horrified lockdown sceptics and dog lovers alike, particularly given New South Wales Health has reported “no recent locally acquired COVID-19 cases” in Cobar, and the fact that the executed dogs included a “mother dog and her puppies”