At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, when the scientific community was still lacking information about the characteristics and transmission of Covid-19, the British government led by Boris Johnson took a close look at the fate of pets. Serious consideration was given to asking citizens to kill their cats.
Initially, the British executive gambled on hypothetical herd immunity, but quickly lost that bet. As a result, the UK was confined from March 23, 2020. After this period of initial passivity, local authorities seemed to get carried away and came close to a cruel overzealousness.
James Bethell, a former senior official at the UK Department of Health, said there is uncertainty about the ability of domestic cats to transmit coronavirus. In an interview with Channel 4 News and reported by " The Independent "On March 1, he tempered this by pointing out that we knew very little about the disease at the time. He went on to reveal that at one point there was a suggestion that people should be asked to exterminate all cats in the UK because of the fear that they might spread the virus. However, this idea was quickly dismissed after being explored.
"The idea was floated at one point to ask people to exterminate all the cats in the UK. Can you imagine what would have happened if we had wanted to do that?"
James Bethell, former UK Department of Health executive
"Avoid kissing cats"
To illustrate the importance of the disaster avoided by the British, we can mention the figures provided by the Pet Food Manufacturers Association, which counted 12 million registered cats in the UK in 2023. According to the PAW report (which uses an acronym meaning "paw" in English), there were already 10.9 million cats at the time of containment.
The slaughter of innocent cats did not take place, but these animals did suffer during this period. In particular, we remember the warnings of Margaret Hosie, a Glasgow University virologist in charge of testing policy, who advised cat lovers to be very careful about hygiene and not to kiss them in July of the same year.
