In Denmark, residents are being urged to consider donating pets to Aalborg Zoo, where they can be used as food for the zoo’s predators.
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A Danish mother has sparked heated debate after revealing she allowed her daughter’s pony to be fed to lions at a local zoo.
Pernille Sohl, from Denmark, has faced a wave of criticism since disclosing that she handed over her child’s horse to Aalborg Zoo, located in the northern part of the country.
The 44-year-old brought the animal to the zoo after it fell ill and a vet recommended euthanasia. The decision came following a public “food drive” launched by the zoo, which is home to more than 1,500 animals from 126 different species, aimed at sourcing prey for its predators.
Sohl ultimately decided to have the horse used as “whole prey” for the lions, reasoning that it was already “going to be put down anyway.”
"It might sound very dramatic and bizarre that you would feed your pet to animals in the zoo," she told The Sunday Times.
"But they are going to be put down anyway, and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators."
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Sohl’s decision is not an isolated case. According to Aalborg Zoo, they have also received donations of 22 horses, 53 chickens, 137 rabbits, and 18 guinea pigs from other owners over time.
The zoo even took to Instagram to publicly encourage Danes to consider donating their pets under similar circumstances.
Lions in Aalborg Zoo are being fed Danish pets
Peter Bischoff/Getty Images
"Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs make up an important part of the diet of our predators - especially in the European locust, which needs whole prey, which is reminiscent of what it would naturally hunt in the wild," it read.
"In zoos we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals - in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity. If you have a healthy 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."
To incentivize donations, the zoo offers $15.60 for each small animal, while larger animals are paid by weight at a rate of 78 cents per kilogram. Given that an adult horse can weigh anywhere from 380 to 1,000 kilograms, the payout for a single horse could reach as much as $780.
Still, the word “nice” might not feel entirely appropriate, considering the nature of the arrangement.
Similar to Sohl’s case, Helen Hjortholm Andersen also donated her horse to be used as lion food, though in her situation it was a Shetland pony being sent to Jyllands Park Zoo.
Ironically, Andersen’s pony was named “Paprika.” Speaking to The Mirror, she explained that the costs of collecting and disposing of a dead animal were, in her words, “grotesquely high.”
"The idea that she could be of benefit made sense. We would do it again. We like the idea of the cycle of life, and that a pony can help to create life for other animals," she said.