The British government planned to exterminate all cats at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

British authorities have considered the possibility of exterminating all cats in the country in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection. This was stated by the country’s former deputy health minister, James Bethell.The deputy head of the department pointed out that at that time the nature of the coronavirus remained a mystery to scientists, so they did not know if cats were able to transmit the infection. According to him, the country’s authorities planned to appeal to citizens with a demand for the extermination of all cats, but this never happened.”Can you imagine what would happen if we wanted to do this?” Bethell said in an interview with Channel 4. It should be noted that at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, British vets urged citizens not to let their pets outside, and also not to kiss cats and dogs. The reason for this was the discovery of the first animal infected with the coronavirus. Subsequently, scientists said that cats can only rarely carry particles of the virus on their fur.