According to a local media story, authorities in northern China have killed three home cats that tested positive for COVID-19.

According to Beijing News online, authorities in the Chinese city of Harbin slaughtered the cats since there was no known treatment for animals sick with the virus. They would have put their owners and other nearby neighbors in danger of becoming infected.

After testing positive for COVID-19 on September 21, the owner was isolated after putting food and water out for the three cats. A health worker subsequently gave the cats coronavirus testing.

Two of the tests were positive.

The cats' owner, Miss Liu, made an online appeal to spare their lives, but they were put to sleep on Tuesday evening.

The case has gotten almost 52,000 comments since the news broke.

COVID-19 is transmitted from humans to animals.

COVID-19 can be transmitted to animals through intimate contact, but the risk of animals transferring the virus to humans is "considered to be low," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

COVID-19 has been found in mink farms in several nations, including cases where it was suspected that humans were infected by the animals, prompting massive culls of the animals.

On its website, the CDC advises anyone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 to avoid contact with animals, including pets, livestock, and wildlife.

It stated that "at this time, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role" in transmitting the virus to humans.

"Some coronaviruses that infect animals can be transmitted to humans and then passed on to others, but this is uncommon. According to the CDC, this is what happened with SARS-CoV-2, which is thought to have originated in bats.

Scientists investigating the origins of COVID-19, which was initially found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, strongly support the notion that the virus was transferred from bats to people via an intermediary species such as a pangolin or bamboo rat.

The slaughter of the cats illustrates China's occasionally severe methods to combat the virus, although infection rates in China remain significantly lower than in other nations.

New infections have been attributed to lockdowns, mask-wearing, mass testing, and high vaccination rates.

On Wednesday, mainland China reported only 11 new locally transmitted cases, eight in Harbin and three in Xiamen, which have recently seen epidemics.

COVID-19 is now being treated in 949 patients in China. There have been 4,636 deaths due to the sickness, out of a total of 96,106 cases reported.