bootychomper

[bootychomper]

Very quick thing bc I just found out it's Connors (kind of) birthday

[bootychomper]

they all had different theories

[bootychomper]

I'm sure I'm probably not the first to send an ask about this, but did you see where a Danish zoo asked for people to donate animals they'd otherwise be euthanizing in order to feed their animals? I see a lot of people reacting really negatively to that and on an emotional/gut reaction level I understand why, but I also don't see an actual issue with this, and was curious about your thoughts on it.

I got a second ask on this topic, I'm going to paste it below and answer both at one.

"What is your take on the Danish Zoo asking people to donate unwanted pets to feed their animals? I’m in Australia and this is something unthinkable to me, no zoo here would ask for pets to feed lions so I wanted your perspective."

For anyone who missed it, here's what I think is one of the earliest pieces of reporting in English.

I can't get google translate to work on the text of the zoo's original IG post, but as interpreted by the media: the zoo is asking people to donate domestic and/or livestock animals in order to feed them out as (pre-killed) whole prey.

There's three things to discuss here, really. The practical/operations aspect of why they're asking, the emotional aspect, and the cultural differences involved. I can only really speak to the first two, so I'm hoping Danish readers will chime in about the latter.

The first thing to know is that feeding out whole prey or partial carcasses is really normal. It's important enrichment for carnivores, and it also has impacts on their jaw strength and the bone development in their skulls. In the US (which is the only country I can speak to knowledgeably), they're obtained different ways. Many whole prey animals are purchased from companies specifically breeding feeder animals - think like mice and rats and chicks. Larger animals are a little more complicated because they're expensive to buy. In many cases, especially for smaller facilities and sanctuaries, livestock that's going to be euthanized or culled is often donated to be used as food. I've seen it with cows, horses, and turkeys, and I think it happens with other species. To be clear, these donations are pretty closely vetted and are not sick with something that would be unhealthy for the carnivores: often they're old animals reaching end of life, or animals that have been injured and need to be let go. I don't know how larger urban zoos do it, but I know of smaller zoos and sanctuaries that will have the animals transported to them live and then butcher them themselves. So what the Aalborg zoo is doing is saying hey, we would like to feed out more whole prey, if you have an animal that you no longer want to keep (euthanasia in this sense seems implied, someone who is Dutch please check me), please consider donating it to us.

The problem is, right, that's a really hard thing to hear for the public. Especially if you're in another country and not looking at the original post in the original cultural context, instead encountering it through the Western media lens. I'm kind of surprised that's the way they decided to solicit donations - it makes me wonder what else is going on that they didn't to make the request privately to farmers or such, since that would be the US approach. Part of what makes the post so shocking is that it they asked for "pets" and not "livestock" or "farm animals", insofar as we know from the translation of the post. The idea of a pet has a level of emotional meaning that farm animals generally don't to many American (and probably other Western) readers. It's a very emotional thing to consider for anyone who has a close emotional bond with an animal.

Now, the aspect I can't comment well on is the cultural context of animal death and use in Denmark. I know that European zoos are much more casual about euthanasia for population management reasons, and that maybe there is less public distress over it compared to the US? Marius, the giraffe euthanized in 2014 who was then necropsied in front of the public for educational purposes, was at the Copenhagen Zoo. There seems to be different mentality in parts of Europe than in the US around animal management - and this is not an implication that it's ethically worse or anything - but I don't know how it manifests. I'd guess, though, it's part of why the zoo felt comfortable making a public request of their audience.

To follow up, I did find this article about a woman who donated a pony to the zoo in 2020, and it's in line with my interpretation of the situation. Here's a quote from the article:

"A 44-year-old Danish woman revealed that she once decided to donate her daughter's 22-year-old pony to Aalborg Zoo to be euthanised and fed to lions due to the pet's severe eczema and excruciating pain. Her comments came amid recent backlash against Aalborg Zoo after it asked people to donate small and healthy pets to be used as food for captive predators. The woman, named Pernille Sohl, told The Times that in 2020, she decided that Chicago 57, a German riding pony, had to be put down. While speaking to the outlet, she said she understood how the decision may sound "very dramatic and bizarre". However, the animals being sent to the zoo were "going to be put down anyway". "But they are going to be put down anyway, and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators," Sohl added.

The article also adds that so far in 2025, the Aalborg Zoo received "22 horses, 53 chickens, 137 rabbits, and 18 guinea pigs as donations." So clearly this isn't a new program (those can't have all been donated in the week since the Instagram post) and it's something a decent number of people are contributing to. I would guess it's almost, if not entirely, animals that are at end of life for various reasons, and their owners would prefer they have value in death. I don't find that shocking or extremely upsetting.

But, of course, the media doesn't understand how the field operates and can't really be bothered to take the time to find and provide that context. So they portray it through a lends of "how weird" and "scandal" and it ends up represented as something that's understandably distressing to a lay reader.

[bootychomper]

This is actually diabolical 💀

[bootychomper]

Someone's probably done this already

[bootychomper]

old man booty bathed in god rays

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(lays back all sexy for u on the bed) (bangs my fuckign head on the headboard)

[bootychomper]

If you see this you’re legally obligated to reblog and tag with the book you’re currently reading

[bootychomper]

trans women r literally so cool theu get tits AND a prostate?? i thought only markilpler could do that

[bootychomper]

I love Zane so much I need him to cry so hard he throws up

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[bootychomper]

SHOW UP IN THE TAGS I BEG OF YOU

[bootychomper]

The left image as a rug and the right image as a ceiling poster

[bootychomper]

this tweet is literally never not on my mind

[bootychomper]

mot deserves a fucking promotion if i was the enterprise barber and picard came in bald as shit asking for a cut id flip my lid

[bootychomper]

This has been rotating in my brain for a while

Idk i think I'm funny🥀🥀

Og meme and alt text lol

[bootychomper]

old enough to remember when smut was called ‘lemons’ but young enough that i had absolutely no business knowing that smut was called ‘lemons’ at the time