Zoo faces backlash after asking visitors to donate pets for 'sick' reason

A zoo in Denmark is asking people to donate their pets – but it’s not for the reason you might think.

The Aalborg Zoo in north Denmark explained in a Facebook post that it is looking for people to donate their small pets as food for their housed predators.

It assured pet owners that their animals would be “gently euthanized” by trained staff and fed to the zoo animals in order to try and mimic the natural food chain of the animals for both “animal welfare and professional integrity”.

In their post they wrote: “Did you know that you can donate smaller pets to Aalborg Zoo? Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs make up an important part of the diet of our predators.”

The post continued: “If you have an animal that has to leave here for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us. The animals are gently euthanized by trained staff and are afterwards used as fodder. That way, nothing goes to waste - and we ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators.”

A link to the zoo’s page with more information on donating pets says they are also interested in receiving horses.

They wrote: “Aalborg Zoo gratefully accepts live horses, which we euthanise and slaughter for feed at Aalborg Zoo. Our needs vary throughout the year, and there may be a waiting list.”

One person commented: “How sick are you to think of something like that?”

Someone else wrote: “Abolish zoos, it's all sick.”

Another said it was, “Insane!”.

Someone else wrote: “You people have completely lost it. Another reason that there should not be any zoos anywhere.”

“Unbelievable. And very unfortunate,” said someone else.

The post sparked a strong reaction and comments have since been turned off by the administrators of the page, who explained: “We understand that the post awakens feelings and interest, but hateful and malicious rhetoric is not necessary - and we urge you to preserve the good tone.”

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