Fuzzy logic behind retaining ban

What is red tape? Before us is probably a typical example of this.

When government officials conveniently laid the blame on hamsters for the Delta outbreaks early last year, they showed little hesitation in destroying them all, even though the tiny, furry animals could have been innocent bystanders throughout the pandemic.

However, when it comes to the moment to lift the ban on the creature, bureaucracy reigns, with officials putting experts in front of them to justify a delay - which isn't unusual when red tape can sometimes provide a perfect shield for nonaction.

Pathetic, isn't it?

During the pandemic that has devastated the world, only a handful of governments have blamed animals for passing the virus to humans and causing local outbreaks.

Denmark and the Netherlands were the first countries to point the accusing finger at minks and, as a result, ordered massive culling at mink farms.

Then, after Denmark and the Netherlands, Hong Kong is the only place that has condemned animals - hamsters, to be specific - for being the culprit responsible for spreading the Delta variant at the beginning of 2022.

At that time, pet owners were ordered to turn in the furry creatures from across the city and nearly 2,400 were destroyed. The culling operation also stoked local resistance in the form of a rescue campaign organized by animal lovers.

Were the culling exercises in northern Europe and here in the SAR knee-jerk reactions to fears?

Even if they were, they were understandable because, back then, scientists were still trying hard to understand the new disease with a view to updating vaccines and treatment. The precautions were justified at that time.

However, hasn't the world already gone a long way to understanding the virus?

It is true that scientists are still baffled by the source of the original outbreaks in Wuhan as they are still trying to determine whether bats were linked to the pandemic. But they are certain that there is no evidence to suggest animals play a role in spreading the virus subsequently.

If they did, this would be negligible. To be fair to animals, people are much more likely to be infected by each other than by the pets.

In hindsight, sympathy should have gone to owners of hamsters here - by as much as those going to fishmongers in the mainland where local authorities had at a certain stage also blamed fish for spreading Covid in a demonstration of how extreme paranoia can be at times.

Hong Kong's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department says it has hired advisers to review the risk of lifting the ban on the import of hamsters, adding that the preliminary results will not be available before the second quarter of this year.

What else could this be if not red tape?

As lawmaker Elizabeth Quat and pet shop Little Boss spoke about the low risk of animal-to-human transmission and called for the lifting of the ban, they are certainly not the only ones incapable of understanding the logic of the current ban that has already been in place for one year.