While the rest of the world looks on at the Danish eagerness to feed their animals to the lions with a kind of perplexed horror – the Danes are living it up.

More and more, Danes are opting to have their old or injured horses fed to lions in zoos across the country.

Giving the horse up as fodder offers an alternative to having the animal put down by a veterinarian, and some horse-owners have expressed relief that their horses can be used for something meaningful – even after death.

Flogging a dead horse
Having the horse destroyed at a zoo isn’t just about the ‘romance’ of giving back – it’s also the smartest financial option, as veterinarians tend to charge more.

This practice has become so popular that zoos all over the country now have long waiting lists, with Aalborg Zoo requiring horse-owners to wait upwards of five months to have their horse devoured.

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Morbid meat
For some, this practice might spark memories of the international outcry in 2014, when Copenhagen Zoo achieved global infamy for dissecting and feeding Marius the giraffe to its lions.

Animal rights activists might be comforted, however, to know that all horses sent to be eaten at zoos must not be seen to be nervous or stressed during their final moments, and must also have a fresh certificate from the butcher to attest that they will make for safe eating.

We wouldn’t want the lions to have an upset stomach, after all.