Danish zoo’s pet donation plea to feed predators ignites online storm
A zoo in Denmark has posted a disturbing appeal that asks Danish citizens in the area to donate their pets.
Image by Cybernews
A zoo in Denmark has posted a disturbing appeal that asks Danish citizens in the area to donate their pets, reaffirming social media’s “wild west” status.
One seemingly innocent Facebook post has sparked outrage among internet users, who are appalled by its appeal for Danes' “unwanted” pets.
Aalborg Zoo asked the people of Denmark to “donate smaller pets” like guinea pigs, chickens, and rabbits to feed the zoo’s predators.
“In zoos, we have a responsibility to imitate the animals' natural food chain – for the sake of both animal welfare and professional integrity,” the post reads.
Aalborg Zoo, the home of predators like the European lynx, sincerely asked its followers on Facebook for their pets, which they assured would be “gently euthanized by trained staff” before being “used as food.”
“This way, nothing goes to waste – and we ensure natural behavior, nutrition, and well-being of our predators,” the post concludes.
Social media users outraged by Aalborg Zoo’s donation appeal
The Facebook post elicited various responses, almost 1,500 reactions, and hundreds of comments.
“How sick are you to think of something like that?” one Facebook user wrote, while others condemned the idea, scolding the zoo.
“This is a joke, right? No one would bring their healthy pet to a zoo so they can kill it and feed it to their animals.”
“How disgusting. Having your healthy pet killed. This is how people are encouraged to stop thinking twice before getting a pet, because, well, they can get rid of it anyway, thanks to the Aalborg Zoo!” said another Facebook user.
In a short thread on Reddit, users discussed the situation at Aalborg Zoo, and some even linked to their petition against the practice.
“If that is what pet owners want, why not? They are eating chickens and rabbits anyway; are you going to stop that? Turn every zoo animal into a vegan? I'm sorry if it upsets you, but in nature, animals eat other animals, and a lot of those are ones we keep as pets,” one user said in the zoo’s defense.
This prompted an animal rescue worker to respond, who compared animals to humans by saying that maybe the zoo wants to ask the people of Denmark to donate their “unwanted family members.”
“Maybe ask people to bring in unwanted family members while they're at it? Heck, nobody wants to take care of Grandma anymore, right?” the user said.
Social media is still the wild west, but users want to harness it for good, not evil
While the media suggests that the wild west era, characterized by a lack of regulation, uncertainty, and potential for misuse, is over, this post suggests otherwise.
The post was initially posted on Facebook and quickly spread across the internet, showing just how boundless social media can be.
Just this year, Mark Zuckerberg’s oldest child, Facebook, announced the end of its third-party check program to make way for community notes.
“Meta’s platforms are built to be places where people can express themselves freely. That can be messy. On platforms where billions of people can have a voice, all the good, bad, and ugly is on display. But that’s free expression,” Meta wrote in January 2025.
While social media should be a space for open discourse, the shocking differences in practices across different cultures, like live animal donations in Denmark, are a lot for netizens to swallow.
Furthermore, users tend to use social media to petition for what’s right, much like the Aalborg Zoo drama.
A similar event occurred almost 11 years ago, when netizens rallied behind Marius the giraffe, who was killed and then dismembered in Copenhagen in front of zoo goers and children. Marius was later fed to the lions after he was deemed “too common” for breeding.
This, like the Aalborg Zoo donation drama, spread across the internet, as people believed that they were using these virtual spaces for good.