Keep animals safe: Household pets especially cats and dogs getting undesirable attention amid the pandemic as they are known to be susceptible to certain coronavirus variants. However, these are not related to Covid-19 but still scare the masses nonetheless.
GEORGE TOWN: Coronavirus contracted by household pets have been around for decades and is an entirely different strain compared to the newly-discovered Covid-19 that infects humans.
Veterinary surgeon Dr K. Pavabakaran said there is no new concrete evidence indicating cross-infections of these coronaviruses from animals to humans so far.
“The types of canine coronavirus that infect dogs are not the same as Covid-19 and this prompted researchers to look into the risks of these coronaviruses passing from animals to humans.
Help needed: Lim, feeding her cats, says she dipped into her EPF to help care for the strays.
GEORGE TOWN: Local animal shelters are finding it hard to make ends meet after a drastic drop in donations due to the present movement control order.
Meowy Cat Shelter Penang founder Pauline Lim, 56, said it was hard to pay the cost for her three shelters in Balik Pulau, Butterworth and George Town.
“I need at least RM4,000 a month to pay for the shelters’ rental, and another RM4,000 for the food and the medical bills of the 200-odd cats, ” she said when contacted yesterday.