A restaurant in Turkey went too far in its effort to attract customers and left quite a lot of people online displeased.
Mevzoo in Istanbul, an upmarket café, put a lion behind a glass wall for customers to look at while they enjoyed their meals. The eatery shared a few videos of the cub called Khaleesi on Instagram, which lead to a huge uproar over the ill-treatment of the animal. The lion, which looked thin, was seen walking a few inches away from a little girl who was pacing near the cage.
According to the The Independent, Mevzoo also had other animals including crocodiles, horses and birds, claiming to be operating as an “animal rehabilitation centre.” The café kept the remaining animals underneath the cafe, in a “zoo” registered with the Ministry of Forestry.
The Turkish Ministry of Forest and Water Management investigated the café in the Beykoz district, but allowed the owners to keep the animals as all the necessary paperwork was in place. However, the authorities asked the owners to take down the glass wall in three months’ time.
But people expressed their outrage in their comments on the video and on other social media platforms, saying holding the animals in cages for entertainment amounted to exploitation and animal abuse. Many also signed an online petition to shut the place down.
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