A MUM has caused quite the stir after donating her daughter’s much-loved pony to a zoo so he could be fed to the lions.
Beloved horse Chicago 57 was taken to Aalborg Zoo in Denmark where he was killed and given to the hungry pride after months suffering from a nasty skin condition.
This comes as the park issued a plea last week asking pet owners to hand over their unwanted animals to feed its captive predators.
Pernille Sohl, 44, runs a small farm in southwest Denmark for children with mental health struggles to spend time with horses.
In 2020, she determined one of her adored ponies needed to be put down after seeing his struggle with a form of eczema caused by mosquito bites.
His condition became so bad he was forced to wear a jacket and leg covers to protect his open wounds.
She decided to put the animal’s fate in the hands of her then 13-year-old daughter who chose to “follow the food chain”.
Pernille told The Times : “She had previously watched one of my horses being taken away by the vet to be euthanised , and it was a bad experience for her.
“She said that this time she wanted to follow the food chain. She wanted Chicago 57 to benefit other animals.”
The pony was then transported to the zoo where he was humanely killed with a shotgun – with Sohl right by his side.
Her experience was so positive, she even returned when another one of her horses sadly died last year.
But this time she was turned down because the animal was too big to fit in the zoo’s fridge so his body was turned into dog food instead.
With deductions on tax payments available and the cost of euthanizing horses being so high, there are also financial incentives to donating.
Helen Hjortholm Andersen from the Jutland, north Denmark, found herself in a similar position to Sohl whent her shetland pony, Paprika was left unable to walk after a seizure.
When she was quoted a “grotesquely high” price to pick up the horse, she took the animal to Jyllands Park Zoo, where like Chicago 57, he was humanely killed and fed to the animals.
Zoo asks for unwanted pets to be used as meat to feed captive predators so ‘nothing goes to waste’
A ZOO has ruffled more than a few feathers after asking the public to hand over their unwanted pets to feed its captive predators.
Aalborg Zoo, in Denmark, asked for healthy small animals such as rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs to be used as meat for feeding time .
Keepers said each donor could donate up to four animals which could then be euthanised before being fed to the carnivore creatures.
In a social media appeal, the northern Jutland zoo said: “Chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs form 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.”
The zoo also announced it is open to taking horses, provided the proper paperwork is in order – with Danish law even allowing for tax deductions under certain circumstances for horse donations.
The operation has – perhaps unsurprisingly – drawn the ire of dozens online.
In response to Aalborg Zoo’s initial plea, one user fumed on Instagram: “Shame on you.”
Another said: “Asking people to send healthy animals that they don’t want any more to you, so they can be slaughtered and fed to the zoo animals is one of the weirdest things I ever read.”
Punctuating their comment with a green vomit emoji, a third wrote: “Go vegan and stop supporting zoos.”
Aalborg Zoo has since closed its Facebook post to comments.
It wrote: “We understand that the post awakens feelings and interest, but hateful and malicious rhetoric is not necessary. And we urge you to preserve the good tone.”
ZOO FURY
The controversy comes hot on the heels of a gruesome incident in Germany , where Nuremberg Zoo killed 12 healthy baboons due to overcrowding.
Keepers then fed their carcasses to lions, tigers, and wolves.
The baboons reportedly had their hands and feet removed before being served up in front of horrified visitors.
German zoo officials defended the culling as a last resort, but the backlash was swift.
This isn’t Denmark’s first incident with zoo-related fury.
In 2014, Copenhagen Zoo sparked massive outrage after it killed a healthy young giraffe named Marius over genetic concerns.
His body was publicly dissected as part of an “educational demonstration”.
Meanwhile, in China, distressing footage of a shockingly obese panther sparked fury among animal lovers.
The video captured the moment a large black panther waddled around its enclosure, struggling to walk as its huge belly visibly hung out.
The big cat seemingly tried to hide behind a tree, but its bloated stomach made the usually svelte and streamlined animal easy to spot.
The shocking footage was filmed at the Chengdu Zoo in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in China and images were shared online on March 9.
The next day, the zoo told local media that the black panther was very old and a female aged 16-years-old.
