A zoo in Denmark asked patrons to donate their pets. Not as attractions, but for food

A European zoo stirred up intrigue and controversy after a social media post asking for surplus pets to be donated to feed captive animals went viral.

In a post on Facebook, the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark asked people to donate unwanted pets that would be “gently euthanized” and fed to predators in captivity.

“Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs form an important part of the diet of our predators – especially the European lynx, which needs whole prey that resembles what it would naturally hunt in the wild,” the zoo wrote.

“In zoos we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals – in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity,” the post continued. “That way, nothing goes to waste – and we ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators.”

The zoo also accepts horses as part of its fodder program.

The Facebook post quickly became a battleground between commenters who were appalled at the concept of euthanizing healthy pets for animal feed, and those who applauded the zoo for its method of maintaining a practical food supply for its animals.

Much of the umbrage directed toward the zoo seemed to stem from the use of the word “pets” to refer to the animals, which called to mind the image of well-loved lapdogs being sent alive into a literal lions’ den.

“This is a joke right,” one enraged commenter wrote. “No one would bring his healthy pet to a zoo so they can kill it and feed it to their animals.”

“In Denmark, this practice is common”

The Aalborg Zoo says dogs and cats are excluded from the program. Donatable animals are limited to chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, and horses, it says, adding that this is a practice it has maintained with patrons for years.

“When keeping carnivores, it is necessary to provide them with meat, preferably with fur, bones, etc., to give them as natural a diet as possible,” zoo Deputy Director Pia Nielsen said in a statement to NPR.

“Therefore, it makes sense to allow animals that need to be euthanized for various reasons to be of use in this way. In Denmark, this practice is common, and many of our guests and partners appreciate the opportunity to contribute,” Nielsen added.

What experts say

Experts say that it is important for captive animals to be fed whole animal parts, including fur, bones and organs, to maintain the sort of eating habits they would exhibit in the wild.

Captive carnivores in the United States often have their diets supplemented with commercially available meat products, like chunk or mincemeat.

“The problem with just feeding lions meat is that the offal (liver, heart, etc.) is much richer in various nutrients than muscle meat – wild lions only start eating the muscle tissue after they’ve finished the offal,” Craig Packer, founder and director of the Lion Center at the University of Minnesota, told NPR in an email. “So feeding lions anything besides horse and cow meat would probably be a welcome change.”

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is an accreditation body for conservation programs in the United States. It said that its member zoos do not employ or endorse the solicitation of pets for food.

But the Nutritional Advisory Group to the AZA highlights the importance of predatory animals still having access to large and whole animal remains as part of a balanced diet.

“Feeding vertebrate animal carcasses to captive carnivores has been a management tool used by zoos in the United States for many years,” the advisory group said in a statement.

“It encompasses a wide variety of prey types/form of presentation, from whole body to portion controlled, and has the beneficial effects of stimulating activity and improving normal feeding behavior,” it said.

The difference in American and European zoo practices has been highlighted before, particularly in the case of Denmark.

In 2015, the country’s Odense Zoo made international headlines for its decision to kill and publicly dissect a 9-month-old female lion in front of school children, as a means to control the facility’s lion population – a practice the zoo had been carrying on for decades.

A year before in the capital city of Copenhagen, animal rights activists were horrified to learn that a healthy two-year-old giraffe known as Marius had been euthanized and his remains fed to the zoo’s lions. The Copenhagen Zoo said putting Marius down had been necessary to avoid inbreeding among its giraffe population.