Health authorities in Spain euthanized a dog belonging to Teresa Romero, the nurse from Spain who contracted the Ebola virus in Africa, according to The Associated Press.
According to health officials, the dog had to be put down because the couple, the nurse and her husband were both being kept in isolation and had come into direct contact with the dog, although the dog had not been tested for the virus, the AP reported.
The dog was a Labrador-type breed named Excalibur and lived with the nurse and her husband in a suburban Madrid flat, according to the AP. Spain authorities are saying it posed a biological risk, adding there was evidence dogs could carry the virus.
Madrid's regional health agency said Excalibur was "sedated beforehand to avoid suffering," and then "put into a sealed biosecurity device and transferred for incineration at an authorized disposal facility," according to a statement, the AP reported.
A protected security vehicle removed the dog from the couple's apartment while animal activists shouted "Murderers!" The couple had no children.
The couple are two of six people under observation in the sealed-off sixth floor of the hospital in Madrid, the AP reported.
The online community had collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to keep the dog alive, but to no avail, according to the AP. Spanish health officials announced the pet had been euthanized and its body incinerated on Thursday.
Madrid authorities issued the court order to kill the dog on Tuesday after the couple was diagnosed and quarantined on Monday, the AP reported.
There are no confirmed reports the dog was also infected or risked spreading the disease to humans, according to the AP.
Romero's quarantined husband, Javier, also attempted to save his pet's life and recruited a veterinarian who hosts a popular radio talk show to spread the word, the AP reported.
"I'm in the hospital and I'm making a call to all people to help me save my dog Excalibur because they want to kill him just like that, without following any procedure," Javier aid in a video from his hospital room, leading the cause to go viral shortly after, according to the AP.
The Twitter hashtag #SalvemosaExcalibur, or "Let's Save Excalibur," was tweeted nearly 400,000 times in 24 hours, the AP reported.
