TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The killing of a corgi by anti-pandemic workers in the Jiangxi Province city of Shangrao has angered Chinese netizens after a video of the pet’s death was posted to Weibo on Friday (Nov. 12).

The dog’s owner, surnamed Fu (傅), posted a video that showed two workers dressed in full PPE beating the dog with iron bars, according to a report by WhatsonWeibo.

Fu was undergoing quarantine at a nearby hotel that did not allow pets and so could not be there to save her dog’s life. She reportedly received threatening phone calls from people telling her to self-censor and remove the video as it started to go viral.

The incident became a trending topic on Chinese social media over the weekend, with one hashtag about the story reaching over 170 million views on Weibo. The response to the news was overwhelmingly negative, with many netizens criticizing the workers for killing the innocent pet, especially since it had not even tested positive for COVID-19, per WhatsonWeibo.

“This dog was not even confirmed to have (the virus). Nevertheless, they just beat him to death. How can you be so cruel?!” wrote one netizen.

“Prying open people’s doors, killing people’s pets, and then pressuring people to delete their posts on the matter, forcing them to settle... Shangrao government is really putting itself on display here,” wrote another.

Responding to the online backlash, local authorities in Jiangxi released a statement the next day, claiming the dog was dealt with through “harmless disposal” (无害化处理).

Chinese government mouthpiece the Global Times soon entered the fray, saying that although their handling this time was “imperfect,” the public ought to be more lenient toward anti-pandemic workers, given their supposed fatigue. The outlet claimed the worker responsible had apologized to the owner, been appropriately reprimanded, and transferred to another position.

It was not made clear whether the worker will come in contact with animals in their new role.

There have been several cases of animal cullings during the pandemic that have angered netizens in recent months. In September, three pet cats that tested positive for COVID-19 were destroyed in China’s Harbin, triggering a backlash on social media.

Taiwan has also had similar incidents. In August, for example, authorities in Kaohsiung culled 154 cats that had been smuggled aboard a boat across the Taiwan Strait, triggering an outcry among the country’s animal rights groups.