The seal pup which escaped the Laugardalur Family Park and Zoo on Monday has been slaughtered, visir.is reports. A Facebook page called Spare the Life of the Sprinter Seal was created following its capture. It was liked by almost 1,400 people, but that was not sufficient to change the minds of park officials. Despite suspicions by pup fans that its escape attempt has resulted in capital punishment, zoo officials claim there is no connection. On the contrary, they maintain that every pup not intended for breeding must be slaughtered by the end of summer due to lack of space in the zoo. That statement has further increased the grief of the pup’s fans who are convinced the pup knew its days were numbered and, therefore, attempted to escape. They believe this to have been a clear sign of unusual intelligence and, thus, a reason to use the pup for breeding.
As reported by Iceland Review yesterday, the pup made it all the way to the camping ground in Laugardalur, where it was apprehended by police and thrown into a police car “like any other prisoner,” according to a tourist who captured the arrest on video. Icelandic media have been fascinated by the Great Escape. They have traced the escape route and interviewed witnesses. Following its arrest, the pup was held in custody and prohibited from making any statements to reporters.
Haukur Viðar Alfreðsson, creator of the Facebook page in support of the pup, is discouraged by the news of its death, but said when interviewed by visir.is he is not about to put himself afire in the zoo, despite his disappointment.
Not everyone, however, is saddened by the pup’s death. A feast now awaits the foxes at the zoo, which will be treated with the pup’s meat.
