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Losing a beloved pet can be a fairly traumatic experience, and many people will opt for a formal burial or some other type of farewell that allows them to honor their memory. However, one zoo in Denmark is hoping some slightly less sentimental owners will opt for an option that has understandably turned plenty of heads.
It’s been five years since Tiger King took the world by storm, and if you watched the series, you’re likely aware zoos that are home to a sizeable menagerie of carnivorous animals go through literal truckloads of meat on a daily basis in order to keep them fed.
Joe Exotic cut some corners by cutting a deal with Walmart to take expired meat off the store’s hands, but more reputable zoos will devote a significant portion of their budget to supplying animals with food that’s above board; Cleveland’s spends a grand total of $630,000 each year for its 2,000 animals, while the two tigers at Bismarck’s Dakota Zoo go through $10,000 worth of ground meat on their own on an annual basis by gulping down ten pounds a day.
However, different animals have different needs, and one zoo in Denmark is turning to the public with a very unique approach to attempting to meet some of them.
A zoo in Denmark is looking for people to hand over old pets and horses so they can be turned into food for its animals
Aalborg Zoo opened in the city it borrows its name from in 1935, and the 20-acre park boasts dozens of different species originally hailing from areas around the globe. That includes plenty of meat eaters, as lions, tigers, (polar) bears, and lynx are all represented on the grounds.
The zoo recently kicked off an Instagram post with the question “Did you know that you can donate smaller pets to Aalborg Zoo?’—one that probably leaves you with many more questions than answers and has gotten plenty of attention since the general public was informed they can do exactly that.
The zoo prefaced the request by noting it has a “responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals” while noting the locusts that are housed there rely on “whole prey” including chickens, rabbits, and guinea pigs.
It continued by petitioning people who may be taking care of “a healthy animal that has to leave here for various reasons” to bring them to the zoo so they can be “gently euthanized by trained staff” prior to being used as “fodder,” which is admittedly a fairly waste-free approach to animal disposal but still one that most pet owners aren’t going to scramble to opt for.
Don’t have a small pet that needs to exit the world for various reasons? Good news! You can also donate horses and even receive a tax deduction for doing so.
At the end of the day, it’s pretty clear Aalborg Zoo has good intentions, so while it’s hard to blame it for attempting to publicize this fairly unorthodox program, it had to know plenty of people were going to be caught off guard after learning it exists.
Content shared from brobible.com.