Madrid’s regional government said it would kill the pet dog of a Spanish nursing assistant who became infected with Ebola — overcoming the family’s objections on Tuesday with a court order.
The nursing assistant was the first person infected outside of West Africa, after caring for a Spanish priest who died of Ebola last month. Authorities have three people under quarantine and said that available scientific knowledge indicates there’s a risk the dog could transmit the deadly virus to humans.
There has been some evidence that dogs can get Ebola, and that people can be infected by animals. In Africa, the virus has been thought to spread as a result of handling bushmeat — wild animals hunted for food — and through contact with infected bats.
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The mixed-breed dog, Excalibur, will be euthanized in a way to avoid suffering and its body incinerated, the government said. A Change.org petition is asking the government to let the dog live.
