The problem I see with this is as caretakers, they bred an animal, decided he was surplus because his genes were not important enough, and exterminated him. Where is the teaching moment in that? You are so right that millions of cats and dogs are exterminated every year, over 100,000 horses are sent across the border for a brutal slaughter, and factory farming is less than humane. That said, zoos are supposed to be a place where the animal is taken care of, and celebrated, not raised as food. There are plenty of dead animals that can be used as food. They essentially diminished the value of an animal by showing the public how insignificant this giraffe was which is actually the opposite of the mission of zoos. People are not upset by one giraffe; they are upset by the concept that any zoo would think this is the right message. Even Jack Hanna, reknowned zookeeper/ Columbus Zoo, is appalled.
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