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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:
TheNoodlesIncident · 02/03/2023 12:59

The same order went out at the plague outbreak of 1665. Many thousands of cats and dogs were killed. The rodent population must have had a heyday.

No, I wouldn't allow my cat to be PTS for something like Covid. I can see the rational behind it, but no. I'd keep her indoors and/or cat proof the garden but I wouldn't surrender her.

Bumply · 02/03/2023 13:00

I recently rewatched Chernobyl where one episode covered having to shoot all the abandoned pets and wildlife.
If it was truly necessary it would get done, but probably not directly by the owners…

Tiredmum100 · 02/03/2023 13:01

No way. I would have kept them indoors!!

QuertyGirl · 02/03/2023 13:01

Stupid idea.

We'd have a vermin problem in no time

Bog · 02/03/2023 13:01

This is something I fear with the bird flu.
I have my late wife's parrot to look after and if I were told to kill him then I'd refuse...he has her laugh.

Suzi888 · 02/03/2023 13:01

@Serrassi That’s terrible.

ginswinger · 02/03/2023 13:01

This explains a bit more about the pet euthanisation in WW2
www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/world-war-two-pet-slaughter-death-cats-dogs-a8042026.html

Saltywalruss · 02/03/2023 13:03

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.

Yes, like the have done with birds during the current avian flu outbreak.

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · 02/03/2023 13:04

No I wouldn't have willingly done so based on what I knew at the time. Plus both my cats were elderly and didn't roam so could have been kept indoors easily.

Suzi888 · 02/03/2023 13:04

I’ve already had thoughts about how I’ll winch a Labrador up to my attic… 😂 during any of kind of walking dead type scenario.
If anything happened or we were compromised then I’d shoot us both, with the gun I had acquired during the collapse of society. 😉

FangsForTheMemory · 02/03/2023 13:05

JanusTheFirst · 02/03/2023 12:36

If it proven people wouldn't have a choice.

I’d like to see a government try to enforce it.

Mexicola · 02/03/2023 13:05

Nope. Not under those circumstances at all.

kitsuneghost · 02/03/2023 13:06

They would have had no chance.
People are too sentimental over their pets

24KaratCucumber · 02/03/2023 13:06

I was fine with lockdown, I enjoyed it if I'm honest.
I was fine with wearing a face covering, it hides my resting 'disgusted at the human race' face.
I had reservations about a vaccine, but I got the shot eventually.

All in all I obeyed the messaging really. But, there is no way on this planet I'd have obeyed any order to PTS my pets. They'd have to arrest me first and drag me kicking, punching and biting from.my house.

xogossipgirlxo · 02/03/2023 13:07

They can kiss my ass and kiss my two cats' asses too. They are kept inside, so do no harm.

Tidsleytiddy · 02/03/2023 13:07

Not a chance. Our cat kept us going through lockdown. We love him so much 🐈‍⬛

Allblackeverythingalways · 02/03/2023 13:07

It's a lot more likely that they would have not been allowed to roam.
With roaming cats culled.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 02/03/2023 13:09

I saw this, and was horrified. Spongecat is no longer with us sadly, but was here until recently. I suspect I would have hidden her in a priest/pussy hole and you would have needed to have prised her from my cold dead hands, to quote Arnie.

OoooohMatron · 02/03/2023 13:09

Some people couldn't even be arsed to wear a mask and follow lockdown rules. As if anyone was going to kill Tiddles!

MissingMoominMamma · 02/03/2023 13:10

No. I trust my cat far more than I trust that fucking shower of incompetents.

Underminer · 02/03/2023 13:10

I don’t have any pets at the moment, but there is no way I am following any dictat from government again as they are untrustworthy and inept.

kitsuneghost · 02/03/2023 13:10

JazbayGrapes · 02/03/2023 12:39

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

I doubt they even would. People know how bad for the environment pets are but still bleat on about going vegan, taking less flights and driving less (unless they are driving their dog for a walk) rather than entertain the thought of giving up non-essential pet ownership.

PuttingOnTheKitsch · 02/03/2023 13:10

Autumndays123 · 02/03/2023 12:52

I would never do this. That said, you only had to read Mumsnet and the mass hysteria going on for the two years after COVID to know that many, many people would have been lining up to kill their own pets if told to do so. Honestly, the things I read on here at the time left me flabbergasted. There were actually people walking among us who thought the world would end due to covid. Let's not forget the massive amounts of people on here who argued that either the vulnerable people should be able to lockdown forever and given a salary by the government to live, or alternatively we should all lockdown forever to protect the vulnerable. I think Covid showed how easily the public can be manipulated and turn into to panicked animals. I do wonder how many of the avid Mumsnet posters left the site after COVID calmed down because they were embarrassed by their posts. I certainly would have been.

So no, I would not have killed my pet for anything but I imagine many people would do have.

Can everyone remember the cheese in tea? Or the woman being berated because she wanted to buy mascara when she went to pick up her prescription.
It was terrifying. I don't think those posters have gone anywhere, they've just switched to predicting that the UK will be a poverty-stricken mess in the next five years.

I reckon if the pet cull had come to pass, there would be vigilante gangs to off them. Some people are keen on any excuse to harm animals.

AllOfThemWitches · 02/03/2023 13:10

No but I didn't stay away from my family either.

Sunriseinwonderland · 02/03/2023 13:10

No I'd have hidden them. They'd have had to kill me to get to them.