Pernille Sohl had two options when her teenage daughter’s pony was diagnosed with a painful, incurable skin condition: pay a vet to put him down, or drive him to Aalborg Zoo to be fed to lions. She chose the lions.
Chicago 57, a German riding pony, had been living with eczema so severe it left open wounds in summer. Mosquito bites triggered the flare-ups, forcing him to wear a jacket and leg guards to stop further damage. By 2020, Sohl knew it was time. She let her daughter, Angelina, then 13, decide how to say goodbye.
“I gave Angelina the various options and she chose the one with the zoo, because it made the most sense,” Sohl told The Times. “She wanted Chicago 57 to benefit other animals.”
This Mom Fed Her Kid’s Pony to Lions and Doesn’t Feel Bad About It
At Aalborg Zoo—one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions—Chicago was euthanised with a bolt gun while a zookeeper stroked and kissed him. His carcass went to the lions. “I got to say a final goodbye,” Sohl said. She was so impressed, she later tried to donate another horse, but it was too big to fit in the zoo’s fridge and ended up as dog food.
Aalborg has been accepting pets for predator feed since it opened in 1935. In the past year, donations have included 22 horses, 137 rabbits, 53 chickens, and 18 guinea pigs. They’re euthanised by trained staff, then given whole to lions, tigers, lynxes, and other carnivores. “Predators need whole prey—including fur, bones, and organs—as it contributes to both enrichment, nutrition, and wellbeing,” the zoo states on its website.
It’s not just Aalborg. Other Danish zoos, including Copenhagen and Jyllands Park, run similar programmes. Cats and dogs are banned, but healthy horses under a certain height—plus rabbits, chickens, and guinea pigs—are welcome. Owners even get a small tax rebate: 5 DKK (around $0.78) per kilogram, for horses.
Supporters call it the “cycle of life.” Critics call it barbaric. Aalborg’s recent Facebook appeal for more donations sparked international outrage, prompting the zoo to shut down comments. “Hateful and malicious rhetoric is not necessary,” it posted.
Helen Hjortholm Andersen, another donor, said she’d do it again. Her 20-year-old Shetland pony Paprika couldn’t walk after a seizure, and the cost to have her body collected was, in her words, “grotesquely high.” Instead, she went to the zoo. “The idea that she could be of benefit made sense,” Andersen said.
For Sohl, the decision still feels right. “It might sound dramatic and bizarre,” she said, “but they were going to be put down anyway.”
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