Zoo sparks controversy as it asks for unwanted pets to be donated as food for animals

A lack of spare cash and an ailing climate are top of mind for many of us at the moment, so you might have spent some time figuring out how to cut back on your waste.

One thing you almost certainly haven’t considered is how to dispose of pets efficiently. Even if your beloved rabbit has had a good innings and passed away naturally, the thought of making the most of their remains has probably been pretty far away.

With that in mind, it’s hard to believe that many people – save for the creeps who leaves kittens and puppies in bin bags on the side of the road – would take a Danish zoo up on its request for predator fodder, even if the grisly request comes from a good place.

This guy was wondering if you've got any spare guinea pigs (Peter Bischoff / Stringer/Getty Images)

Aalborg Zoo in North Jutland posted the appeal to Facebook and its website, asking for unwanted pets to be donated for euthanasia before being fed to its resident predators.

It specifies smaller creatures like rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs, saying they are ‘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’.

Apparently it will also take equine beasties at 147cm in height or less, provided they have a pet passport.

While it seems a pretty macabre request, it’s fair to assume they aren’t asking you to consider turning over beloved family pets. Instead, it’s about animals that ‘for various reasons’ need to be moved on, although… yeah that doesn’t sound too great either.

"In zoos, we have a responsibility to imitate the animals' natural food chain - for the sake of both animal welfare and professional integrity," said the social media post. "Nothing goes to waste - and we ensure natural behaviour, nutrition and well-being of our predators."

In a separate statement, Aalborg zoo said: "For many years at Aalborg Zoo, we have fed our carnivores with smaller livestock.

"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.

"Therefore, it makes sense to allow animals that need to be euthanised 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."

The post has drawn a lot of chatter on Reddit, with many users accepting the practicalities of the request.

“As an Aalborg resident and season ticket holder, they have been taking horses for years now, and sometimes they have to turn down horses because they have too many. They also use their antelopes and zebras etc as food for predators,” said one user. “This is a PR move to get the zoo on people's radar after they built a couple of new areas.”

“How is this different than all the meat produced for human consumption?” asked another. “You can even argue it’s worse for human because humans can live off plants only, but these zoo-animals can’t.”

Another added: “Seems better than them being abandoned or abused, but still a hard sell.”

Aalborg Zoo has a lot of large predatory animals that all need good meat (Peter Bischoff / Stringer/Getty Images)

Culling animals for predator food in zoos isn’t unheard of, with one example being the euthanasia of an 18-month-old giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo in 2014. That particular giraffe, called Marius, was fed to lions.

Copenhagen Zoo said that decision was taken to avoid inbreeding, with an online petition bearing thousands of signature being too little too late to save Marius.

FOODBible has approached Aalborg Zoo for comment.