Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you kill your pet if ordered to by the gov't?

638 replies

JackiePlace · 02/03/2023 12:31

I read in the news this morning that at the beginning of the Covid crisis the gov't considered ordering the culling of all domestic cats in order to prevent the spread of Covid. This idea was later abandoned after it was proven that cats couldn't transmit Covid to humans.
AIBU to think that this would have caused a mass uprising? We are a nation of animal lovers, after all. Or would people have accepted it as they did some of the other draconian regulations (not visiting dying relatives, etc).

www.lbc.co.uk/news/govt-cat-cull-covid-pandemic/

OP posts:
itendswithus · 02/03/2023 12:32

You'd have to kill me before I'd let anyone kill one on my animals!!

EachandEveryone · 02/03/2023 12:32

No chance

Indoorcatmum · 02/03/2023 12:33

NEVER. And I would attack anyone who tried

MGK · 02/03/2023 12:33

Some people would have done. People went absolutely barmy in covid.

I wouldn't have and I wouldn't have let anyone else either.

Lockheart · 02/03/2023 12:34

If there was an extremely deadly disease which we knew was being spread by pets then yes, because it would be too great a risk to my family.

In the particular idea floated re COVID and cats though, no.

vodkaredbullgirl · 02/03/2023 12:34

Hell would have to freeze over, no way would I do it.

KimberleyClark · 02/03/2023 12:34

I think some vets might have objected to such a plan.

MelchiorsMistress · 02/03/2023 12:35

Surely we could have just put cats on lockdown too. if it was ok to to do it to humans I don’t see why we couldn’t have done it to cats if it was found that they were a risk.

Oreosareawful · 02/03/2023 12:35

My cats are valued as much as my children, there's absolutely no way I could have done it. I'd risk prison to protect them.

BarbedButterfly · 02/03/2023 12:35

Not a chance

MyopicBunny · 02/03/2023 12:35

Absolutely no way

grayhairdontcare · 02/03/2023 12:35

Absolutely no chance would I have killed my cat or allowed anyone else to do so

OhDeniseReally · 02/03/2023 12:36

No chance. Our cats are a part of the family. They are not just animals.

JanusTheFirst · 02/03/2023 12:36

If it proven people wouldn't have a choice.

CoalCraft · 02/03/2023 12:36

Well it depends on the situation. In the scenario given, definitely not, but if it was a disease with high lethality in children and/or young adults that was highly contagious from cats, and if I thought there was a chance my cat was exposed (unlikely; she's indoor only), then yes.

Dudum · 02/03/2023 12:37

I wish they would put cats on lockdown.

Pootles34 · 02/03/2023 12:37

The government can make you if they get tb for example.

Original poster
JackiePlace · 02/03/2023 12:37

I was reminded of the reports after the floods in New Orleans a few years back when people were told to leave their pets behind when the rescue boats came for them...
Most did so, I believe.

OP posts:
Squiblet · 02/03/2023 12:37

There's definitely a potential TV series here. Writers, get to work...

ChilliBandit · 02/03/2023 12:37

What an odd idea when cats can just be kept inside.

Quveas · 02/03/2023 12:37

Absolutely not. But I would have been willing to kill the government. It's still vaguely tempting.....

Purplebunnie · 02/03/2023 12:37

MelchiorsMistress · 02/03/2023 12:35

Surely we could have just put cats on lockdown too. if it was ok to to do it to humans I don’t see why we couldn’t have done it to cats if it was found that they were a risk.

This

IrisJoy · 02/03/2023 12:38

No, but I would have kept her inside. Surely that would have done the job?

Serrassi · 02/03/2023 12:38

This question has already been answered by history.

When the Second World War was starting, the government distributed leaflets asking that people euthanise their pets, and in London people queued around the block to tearfully do so.

JazbayGrapes · 02/03/2023 12:39

Covid threat has fizzled out. But if governmet says its "for the climate", many will