First they came for the hamsters, and I did not speak out—because I was not a hamster...
What do the hamsters need to be rescued from?
Like all living creatures living under Chinese Communist Party rule, from the rulers themselves.
It all started at a single pet shop, where a sudden outbreak of Covid among the shop's workers and hamsters created official panic in the famously "zero-Covid" territory.
It comes after an emerging cluster linked to the Little Boss pet store, where a 23-year-old employee was confirmed positive for the Delta variant on Monday. A customer who visited the store and interacted with the employee later tested positive as well.
After investigating the pet store, officials said on Tuesday that 11 hamsters had tested preliminary positive for Covid, raising concerns around the possibility of animal-to-human transmission.
New York's human population had to wait hours for a Covid test, and yet China managed to have enough supply to immediately test its hamsters.
Regardless, Hong Kong authorities moved quickly in order to test all the animals in the store to see if they had Covid.
And... then kill them all anyway regardless of the results because commies gonna commie.
On Tuesday, authorities seized all the small animals in the shop, including hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas, to be tested and euthanized -- regardless of the test result -- citing a health hazard to the public.
When pressed, a spokesperson for the city's Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department explained it this way:
...all hamsters would be killed regardless of their test result because the virus' incubation period means "negative test results do not necessarily mean that the hamsters have not been infected."
To turn an old aphorism on its head, "We had to test the hamsters in order to destroy them."
Don't think about it too much (they certainly didn't).
Early attempts by the hamsters to free themselves sadly came to little.
Hence, the need for a human-aided rescue.
Volunteers across Hong Kong have mobilized to save the rodents from the clutches of the government, which has been exterminating the animals after an outbreak was tied to a pet shop. Under the latest order, authorities will cull more than 1,000 hamsters seized from a warehouse and almost three dozen pet shops. Officials also asked anyone who bought a hamster since Dec. 22 to surrender it, and said these animals will also be killed regardless of their Covid status.
Anyone else weirded out by the enthusiasm they seem to have for killing creatures weaker themselves?
Maybe it's genocide envy.
A kind of underground railroad of sorts has been organized through social media to try to save the creatures.
Now, an underground operation is trying to save abandoned hamsters, with foster caregivers taking them in and concealing them...
Resistance groups have assembled on the Telegram messaging app to share updates, drawing on methods used in anti-government protests in 2019. Nearly 3,000 people have volunteered to house the affected hamsters. On social media, concerned residents have shared photos of abandoned hamsters in the hope of enlisting rescuers. Many garnered responses in seconds.
The Chinese maintain that they fear the possibility of humans catching Covid from these hamsters.
However, there has been some push back on that as well:
Generally, international health authorities have said the risk of transmission from animals to humans is possible, but low.
Interesting. I wonder if these are the same "international health authorities" who told us that Covid clearly came from a coronavirus passed naturally from a bat to a human and not a bioweapons lab known to specialize in coronavirus research that was in the exact same area as the initial outbreak... because that is crazy talk and anyone who suggested such a thing was a conspiracy nut.
It's almost as if the media massages the facts to fit whatever narrative happens to be convenient (which is another conspiracy of course so stop thinking that right now).
Pet owners are in an uproar over the government's plan to kill the hamsters, which experts say is rooted in knee-jerk panic rather than science. The hamsters are casualties of Hong Kong's "zero covid" policy, which many here see as a futile political quest.
That sounds kind of familiar.
In any case:
The city has endured, and largely complied with, extreme and often baffling pandemic rules. Schools and gyms are closed, and restaurants must shut at 6 p.m. Air travel from most major hubs has been severed. Playgrounds are sealed off with tape.
You can almost feel Michigan Governor Whitmer's envy.
While it is not yet known where international genocide expert and NBA franchise owner Chamath Palihapitiya stands on the issue, I think we can all take an educated guess.
Stay in the fight, guys. Stay in the fight.
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