All across Spain, dogs, cats, birds and their owners are mobilising to try and stop authorities from putting down the dog of a nurse infected with Ebola.
#SalvimosAExcalibur, or ‘Let’s save Excalibur’ is the number one trend worldwide on Twitter today, as petitions and social media campaigns try to convince Madrid health officials not to euthanise the dog this evening.
Excalibur is owned by Teresa Romero Ramos, the nurse who contracted the deadly virus after voluntarily treating two Spaniards evacuated from western Africa with the disease. She is the first person to develop Ebola outside of Africa during this outbreak, in what has become the deadliest on record.
Madrid officials want to euthanise her dog, a mixed-breed named Excalibur, amid fears that he may be a carrier of the virus.
At least one major study of the disease says that canines can become infected with it, without showing any symptoms. However, it is still unclear how likely the disease can be spread from dogs to people.
Yesterday, Teresa’s husband, Javier Limon Romero, posted on Facebook that he had received a request from health authorities that his dog be put down. He appealed to a Spanish animal welfare organisation to help him save Excalibur.
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Mr Limon Romero said he denied the request, but that authorities are still seeking to put down his pet.
“I said no. And they told me that they would ask for a court order to enter my house and put him down,” he said in his post.
Excalibur is currently alone in the couple's home, but before he left the dog to be by his wife, Mr Limon Romero left “several buckets of water, filled the bathtub with water and left out 15kg of feed.”
“The terrace was also left open so that he could do his business,” he said in his post.
Mr Limon Romero went on to say that authorities were unwilling to put the dog in quarantine and observation, a process he himself had undergone after his wife test positive with Ebola.
His appeal has quickly spread online, with the hashtag going viral on Twitter.
#salvemosaexcalibur pic.twitter.com/ijJoEDvl1p
— Erika Badi (@ErikaBadiola) October 7, 2014
#SalvemosaExcalibur, no es su culpa. #SaveExcalibur, it's not its fault. #Ebola pic.twitter.com/3izyXs02K3
— Ing. David Hernandez (@DavidRHG) October 7, 2014
Lehia tambien te apoya!!! #SalvemosaExcalibur pic.twitter.com/XqEonCLSe9
— Jessica~Jessié (@fusrodah24) October 7, 2014
Ringo se une a la campaña. Porque el también se indigna que maten a un perro inocente!!!!… #SalvemosaExcalibur pic.twitter.com/uFIIn56Ti5
— sugus (@mangasrufaco) October 7, 2014
As of this morning, more than 290,000 people had signed an online petition in support of Excalibur.
Now, a sit-in is taking place outside the building where Excalibur is located, with the health authorities still scheduled to put him down this evening.
(H/T: Mashable)
