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Russian minister blasts EU's ‘civilized barbarity’ of feeding pets to predators in zoos

Denmark’s TV2 channel earlier reported that zoos in Copenhagen and Givskud had requested visitors bring their pets, such as guinea pigs and rabbits, in order to feed them to tigers, lions and wolves.

© AP Photo/Keystone, Urs Flueeler

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Russian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergey Donskoy has condemned the feeding of house pets to predators in zoos instead of putting them to sleep in vet clinics as "civilized barbarity" and "a challenge to modern European society."

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Denmark’s TV2 channel earlier reported that zoos in the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the city of Givskud had requested visitors bring their pets, such as guinea pigs and rabbits, in order to feed them to tigers, lions and wolves.

"This is what is called civilized barbarity, because an atrocity is still an atrocity even when it is committed under a well-intentioned excuse," Donskoy wrote on Facebook. "Unlike animals living in the wild, those in zoos have no need for hunting skills, so it is useless brutality to give them even sick animals as prey. This kind of animal euthanasia is a challenge to contemporary European society," the Russian environment minister added.

Donskoy also vowed to request clarification from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.

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