Last night
the pet dog at the centre of a growing Ebola row in Spain took a new
twist as it emerged its owner had ceded possession to an animal welfare
group which is now trying to save it.
Health
chiefs in Madrid obtained a court order to sacrifice Excalibur and sent
police to the home of nurse Teresa Romero Ramos, who has been diagnosed
with the deadly disease, and her husband Javier Limon Romero.
They
were understood to be planning to gain entry to the property in the
Madrid suburb of Alcorcon last night so they could take it away and put
it down.
But
a lawyer working for Madrid-based animal welfare group Mascoteros
Solidarios rushed to the couple's flat to try to prevent the animal
sacrifice.
The
move came after Javier, who has been quarantined in a Madrid hospital
with his wife, handed his pet dog over to the organisation's president
Carlos Rodriguez, a vet and well-known radio presenter in Spain.
The
association confirmed in a press release tonight: 'Teresa Romero's
husband Javier, has ceded the custody of his dog to Carlos Rodriguez
through a WhatsApp message while he is in Carlos III Hospital in Madrid.
'The
dog, Excalibur, is currently inside the family home in Alcorcon.
Several animal welfare groups and private individuals have mobilised
following Javier's message over social networking sites about the plans
to sacrifice the animal.'
Thousands of people had last night signed an online petition to save the dog.
Mascoteros Solidarios spokesman Beatriz Ramos said: 'We're not suggesting doing anything that endangers public health.
'All
we want is for the authorities to consider the option of treating this
animal like a human being and putting it into quarantine.
'This
dog has been interacting with other animals over the past few days who
in turn will have have been interacting with their owners.
'It's something that needs to be studied and we don't believe that just putting the animal down is the answer.'
Madrid health chiefs said the animal was a health risk and could transmit the Ebola virus to humans.
They
said in a statement: 'The only way of eliminating the existing risk of
the transmission of the illness is by putting the animal which has been
in contact with the virus to sleep.'
Earlier
today Javier, who lives in the Madrid suburb of Alcorcon, raged:
'Before leaving hospital I left several buckets of water out for it as
well as filling the bath with water, along with a 15 kilo sack of food.
'I also left the door to the terrace open so it could do it necessities.'
He added: 'It seems unfair to me that because of a mistake they've made, they want to solve this the easy way.
'A dog doesn't have to infect a person and vice versa.
'If
this problem worries them so much I think they should look for another
type of alternative solution, such as putting the dog in quarantine and
observation like they've done with me. Or perhaps they feel they should
sacrifice me just in case. Of course a dog is easier, it doesn't matter
as much.'
No comments:
Post a Comment