Ebola dog: Protests after infected Spanish nurse's pet Excalibur is put down in Madrid

 
Clashes: animal rights campaigner clash with police
Robin de Peyer9 October 2014

A Spanish Ebola victim's dog has been put down, sparking protests from animal rights campaigners who chanted "assassins" outside the infected nurse's house.

Excalibur, a 12-year-old rescue dog belonging to infected Maria Teresa Romero Ramos and her husband, was destroyed in Madrid as a precaution to stop the spread of the deadly disease.

Spanish health officials announced in a statement that the animal's body had been incinerated, adding that it was then "put into a sealed biosecurity device and transferred for incineration at an authorized disposal facility."

The decision followed a huge online campaign in which hundreds of thousands of people had signed a petition to save the animal after its owner was diagnosed with the disease on Monday after treating a victim who had gone to Madrid from Sierra Leone.

A demonstrator tries to block the road to prevent the animal being put down

An appeal from hospital by her husband to spare the animal sparked the campaign which then went viral.

"I'm in the hospital and I'm making a call to all people to help me save my dog Excalibur because they want to kill him just like that, without following any procedure," he said.

On Twitter, #SalvemosaExcalibur - "Let's Save Excalibur" - was tweeted nearly 400,000 times in 24 hours, making it the site's second most popular topic worldwide.

One user tweeted: "We need to save Excalibur's life!!."

"Spain save him don't sacrifice him, he deserves treatment."

In the same period, 450,000 people signed several online petitions calling for the dog's life to be spared.

Police clash with a protester in Madrid

The destruction of Excalibur on Wednesday sparked protests outside the nurse's apartment complex in suburban Madrid, where the dog had previously been seen pacing on the balcony.

Police had pulled away around 30 or 40 activists who blocked the road when firefighters and workers in white hazardous materials suits tried to entered the complex earlier in the day.

Announcing the animal had been destroyed, Spanish health officials said the decision was made because Excalibur posed a risk of transmitting the disease to humans.

There is no documented case of Ebola spreading to people from dogs. but at least one major study suggests dogs can get the disease without showing symptoms. Experts say they are uncertain of what risk that poses to humans.

The UK director of animal rights group PETA, Mimi Bekhechi, said the organisation was was "sad" to hear of the news, adding: "No one can point to any evidence that dogs can transmit Ebola and efforts could have been made to quarantine him."

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