Ministers considered killing all CATS at start of pandemic, claims ex health minister
Ministers considered a nationwide cull of pet cats during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic when it appeared they could be spreading the virus, a former minister has claimed
A nationwide cull of all pet cats was considered at the start of the Covid pandemic, according to a former minister.
Lord Bethell, who was head of NHS Test and Trace under Boris Johnson, said the concern about pets showed how little was known about the disease at the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, the hereditary peer said: "What we shouldn't forget is how little we understood about this disease.
"There was a moment we were very unclear about whether domestic pets could transmit the disease.
"In fact, there was an idea at one moment that we might have to ask the public to exterminate all the cats in Britain.
"Can you imagine what would have happened if we had wanted to do that?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ministers-considered-killing-cats-start-29350610