The horrifying moment a health worker in Shanghai chased down a pet corgi and beat it to death with a shovel because its owner was infected with Covid.

Video shows a Covid prevention worker, who is wearing a full PPE suit, chasing the small dog down a street in the residential area in the Pudong district of the city.

The corgi is seen trying to hide behind a car but the health worker lunges forward and hits the dog three times with a large shovel. The pet is then seen lying motionless on the street.

Footage of the attack has gone viral on Weibo and sparked outrage amongst locals, who are growing frustrated of the harsh lockdown conditions that are leading to shortages of food and basic necessities.  

Photos show the corgi running after a bus that is said to be taking its owner to an isolation centre for quarantine after they tested positive for Covid. The dog was then beaten to death by the health worker, with its body later placed in a yellow bag.

The corgi's owner had released the dog onto the streets after they could not find anyone to care for his pet whilst he was in quarantine, reported China News Weekly. 

The dog's owner wrote on a community Weibo chat: 'We hoped to let him outside and be like a stray dog. We didn't want him to starve to death. 

'As long as he could live it would be ok. We never expected that he would be beaten to death the moment we had left.'