Via NPR and Al Roth's Market Design Blog comes this story:
A European zoo stirred up intrigue and controversy after a social media post asking for surplus pets to be donated to feed captive animals went viral. . . .
The Facebook post quickly became a battleground between commenters who were appalled at the concept of euthanizing healthy pets for animal feed, and those who applauded the zoo for its method of maintaining a practical food supply for its animals. . . .
The Aalborg Zoo says dogs and cats are excluded from the program. Donatable animals are limited to chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, and horses, it says, adding that this is a practice it has maintained with patrons for years.
"When keeping carnivores, it is necessary to provide them with meat, preferably with fur, bones, etc., to give them as natural a diet as possible," zoo Deputy Director Pia Nielsen said in a statement to NPR.
"Therefore, it makes sense to allow animals that need to be euthanized for various reasons to be of use in this way. In Denmark, this practice is common, and many of our guests and partners appreciate the opportunity to contribute," Nielsen added.
Savvy Loungers will know that this post's title references a classic article from Mary Anne Case. As Case explains the title:
My title comes from a scene in Michael Moore's early film Roger and Me, whose central theme is the decline of the auto industry in Michigan. . . .Traveling down the road, he spots a crudely hand-lettered sign offering, "Rabbits or Bunnies, Pets or Meat for Sale." The female entrepreneur who posted this sign takes Moore around back to cages full of live rabbits of various ages and makes clear the choice she is offering her customers: pets or meat, you decide. . . .
"Pets or meat" is an interesting way of framing the question, because the choice being presented is importantly not one between commodification and non-commodification, but between two fully commodifled transactions. To the potential customers of the roadside stand, both the meat and the pets are available exclusively "for sale." Yet, in one case, and not necessarily in the other, the commodification is commingled with affection.
Naturally, Mary Anne has been a guest on the Taboo Trades podcast, discussing Donorsexuality and A Post-Dobbs Right to F*$#. You can listen in the embedded player below, at the links above, or on Apple, Spotify, and the other usual suspects.