Woman stands by donating daughter’s pony to Denmark zoo to be fed to lions
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A woman has no regrets about answering a call from a Denmark zoo that is asking for donations of small pets to serve as food for its predators.
The Aalborg Zoo wrote its social media accounts on July 31 that “if you have a healthy animal that needs to be given away for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us.”
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The zoo explained that it is trying to reenact nature and mimic the natural food chain of the animals housed there “for the sake of both animal welfare and professional integrity.”
They specified guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens as possible donations, while offering assurances the pets will be “gently euthanized” by trained staff.
Pernille Sohl recounted in a recent interview with the U.K. Times how she donated her daughter Angelina’s German riding pony, Chicago 57, after the animal was euthanized due to pain from a long-term health struggle in 2020.
“It might sound very dramatic and bizarre that you would feed your pet to animals in the zoo,” Sohl told the publication, after the Aalborg Zoo’s plea went viral.
“It is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators.”
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Chicago 57 was 22 at the time of his death, Sohl said, explaining that the pony was suffering from a form of eczema caused by mosquito bites that became extremely irritated in the summer, leading to painful open wounds that risked infection.
Near the end of his life, he had to wear a jacket and leg protection.
She gave Angelina, who was 13 at the time of Chicago 57’s death, a few options on what to do with her beloved pet “and she chose the one with the zoo, because it made the most sense,” the mom said.
Sohl added that her daughter chose that option because “she wanted to follow the food chain. She wanted Chicago 57 to benefit other animals.”
In Aalborg Zoo’s post, which captions a photo of a wildcat baring its teeth, added that aside from small animals, the facility was also interested in receiving horses.
The big cats need prey that “resembles what it would naturally hunt in the wild,” the zoo noted.
“In zoos, we have a responsibility to imitate the animals’ natural food chain — for reasons of both animal welfare and professional integrity.”
Cats and dogs are not accepted as donations to the zoo, the Times reported.
Sohl had the zoo euthanize Chicago 57 and was present the entire time.
She was later told that the pony’s body would be used to feed the zoo’s lions.
Aalborg Zoo has been receiving pet donations since it was founded in 1935.
“We have always done it, as long as the zoo has existed,” Anette Sofie Warncke Nutzhorn, the chief zoologist, told Danish news outlet Ritzau.
“The debate has surprised us, but we are happy to take it and stand by it,” she added.
“We are put into the world to talk about nature and ecosystems.”
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