A zoo in Denmark called on the public to give their unwanted pets healthy as part of a unique effort to provide food to its predators.
The Aalborg zoo requested donations of living chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, which, according to her, are “gently euthanized” by the staff formed.
The zoo also accepts living horses donations – with owners capable of benefiting from potential tax relief.
Publishing on Instagram, the zoo explains that it has “the responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of animals” and smaller cattle “constitute an important part of the diet of our predators”.
The zoo says that the food provided in this way “recalls what it would naturally hunt in nature” – and that this is particularly true for the Eurasian Lynx.
The other predators kept at the zoo include lions and tigers.
Small animals can be given during the week, with no more than four at a time without appointment.
On its website, under a photo of a tiger devouring a piece of meat, the Aalborg zoo presents the conditions of donation of horses.
To be eligible, they must have a horse passport and cannot have been treated for an illness in the previous 30 days.
If they succeed in putting their animals back, the horses can then receive a tax deduction.
In a statement, the deputy director of the zoo, Pia Nielsen, said that the carnivores of the zoo had been fed by the smallest cattle “for many years”.
“When maintenance of carnivores, it is necessary to provide them with meat, preferably fur, bone, etc. to give them a diet as natural as possible,” she explained.
“Therefore, it is logical to allow animals that must be euthanized for various reasons to be useful in this way.
