Mother Says She Donated Daughter's Pony to Zoo to be Fed to Lions

A mother recently took up a zoo's request to donate pets to feed predators in the facility.

In a recent interview with The Times, Pernille Sohl says her daughters pet pony was in so much pain it was time to euthanize the animal. Sohl made the decision to take the animal to the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark to have it euthanized and fed to lions.

Pohl said, “It might sound very dramatic and bizarre that you would feed your pet to animals in the zoo.” She added, “But they are going to be put down anyway and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators.”

Pohl said her daughter's 22-year-old German riding pony, named Chicago 57, had to be put down after suffering from eczema triggered by mosquito bites. She says she gave her 13-year-old daughter the zoo option and she agreed.

She told The Times, "She had previously watched one of my horses being taken away by the vet to be euthanized, 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.”

It was only a few weeks ago when Aalborg Zoo put out a message on Facebook asking people to donate their small pets to help feed their various predators. The post was hit with some criticism but also messages of support.

The post read, in part, "If you have an animal that has to leave here for various reasons, feel free to donate it to us. The animals are gently euthanized by trained staff and are afterwards used as fodder. That way, nothing goes to waste - and we ensure natural behavior, nutrition and well-being of our predators."

In total, The Times says this year Aalborg has received 22 horses, 137 rabbits, 53 chickens and 18 guinea pigs. The animals have all been used to feed Aalborg's lions, tigers, lynxes and other carnivores.