Growing up on a farm we killed, plucked and processed a few hundred chickens each year. Kept us and several families in town fed with good quality meat over the winter.

It's not a bad thing to be that close to your own food production.

WTF is this take. It's not that they can't afford food, they're trying to keep their food supply more ethical.

"In zoos, we have a responsibility to imitate the natural food chain of the animals — in terms of both animal welfare and professional integrity," Aalborg Zoo said in a post on social media.

Well, you seem like you'd do well in one. At least until the tigers wake up. Good luck!

Gas them with nitrogen.

Nobody's suggesting that beloved pets get donated just for the sake of feeding the animals. But if you have a pet you're planning to get rid of anyway, for whatever reason, some people would prefer to see the pet's death contribute a final something back. Put it in the same logic as organ donation. Nobody WANTS to see their loved one's corpse cut open and such, but knowing it helped somebody else in a small way can give some closure.

You get a pet, which is supposed to be a companion and basically part of your family, and you don’t mind them being torn to shreds?

This is a fair way to feel about it, but if the question is only what is done with a body after it has been euthanized it seems more like a cultural consideration than an ethical one. Like there are cultures with strong feelings about treatment of human corpses to the point where organ donation is taboo, but that doesn't mean being ok with family members being organ donors is some awful thing.

There's a larger question about how pets and other animals are treated, and the thought of someone euthanizing a healthy pet for petty reasons is really disturbing (like stories you sometimes hear about this being done as a way to emotionally abuse someone), but that isn't exactly the fault of the zoo or its practices.

in the end it's just a bunch of meat

That's why it's back on the menu, boys! The circle of life is brutal. I think everyone in these comments is just externally processing horror at the idea of sending their own pets.

Not my kid, but if I'm terminal I'm gonna add "killed by some food-safe means and then fed to tigers in front of zoo patrons" to my potential death plans.

"The funeral will be at the civic building at 10am, and the viewing at 12:00 by the tiger sanctuary in Edgewater Zoo"

I dunno if they're psychos, exactly, I'm mostly seeing interesting takes, like the chicken coop that blew away or the fisherman. Varying degrees of "how close are you to this animal," especially since critters like mice could be a lovely pet or food for an equally lovely snake.

But yeah, couple people don't turn off their dark humor either, but that's just the internet. I don't mind it, I imagine only 1% are actually psychopaths (which is iirc the statistical average, except in business where it's 4%. And I guess politics, now).

Then again, my instance blocks certain other instances, too. Lol

Okay then, I guess if your kid has a terminal cancer we can also feed him to the tiger? After all in the end it's just a bunch of meat.

That's a weird comparison, and it's honestly a sign that you are struggling with separating the two on an emotional level. Which is ironic based on your opening sentence.

*Kristi Noem has entered the chat...