Overview

• Year-to-date, Aalborg Zoo has received 22 horses, 137 rabbits, 53 chickens and 18 guinea pigs under its long-standing pet-donation program that channels euthanized animals to feed its carnivores.
• Officials have defended the decades-old policy after a late-July Facebook appeal for pet donations prompted a surge of viral backlash described by the zoo as “hateful and malicious.”
• A high-profile case involved Pernille Sohl donating her teenage daughter’s 22-year-old pony, euthanized for severe eczema, to feed lions at the zoo.
• Daniel Ashe, chief of the US Association of Zoos and Aquariums, affirmed that whole-carcass feeding benefits predator welfare but noted that American zoos source USDA-graded meat and typically exclude horse or pet carcasses.
• Animal-welfare advocates caution that using companion animals as feed risks undermining public perceptions of pet value and ethical standards in captivity.