Post-covid, there seems to be more pet give-backs as people realize they don't have the financial or time resources to take care of them. So shelters are swimming in the things (as far as I can tell). If they're going to be put down, this would let them be put to some use other than a landfill.

"They want to bury my pets in a landfill." is a click-worth headline also. Reader beware.

Dupe? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44791079

Or is there a bias against BBC articles?

I know some people who ran a fresh+saltwater retail fish store way past it$ 'cultural due date' and may have appreciated this type of closure.

I always remember the scene in Jurassic Park when they try to feed a goat to the T-Rex, he doesn't show up, and then Jeff Goldblum says "T-Rex doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt."

This seems partially to be like that, mostly out of compassion. Nobody wants their pet to be hunted like in the wild, but at least the rest of the process can continue.

I think of this line (and the general sentiment) a lot in life. I don't want to be handed a reward. I want to earn it.

Note that it says they are gently euthanized first.

Otherwise I don't think there is a single horse-owner who would go through that. We have all seen what cats do with their living food.