Dead Lion Found in Freezer During UK Restaurant Health Inspection

Well, there’s a headline I wouldn’t expect to ever write, but from everything I can tell, this is legit. Apparently, earlier this week, a health inspector related the tale of the time a routine inspection at an unrevealed restaurant in the UK turned up a dead lion in the freezer.

All of this was reported by Ian Brightmore, a health protection manager at Chichester District Council in Sussex. Brightmore, for somewhat understandable reasons, has refused to say exactly where this happened, just that it was when he was working in “another area.”

It’s hard to figure out the first question to ask when someone reads something like that, since “why” and “how” both jockey so effectively for attention. Both seem to have the same answer, however: the owner claimed he had been given a dead lion by the local zoo to feed his “pack of dogs.” OK, first of all, who the hell keeps a “pack” of dogs? Are you training for the British version of the fucking Iditarod? Are you attempting a stage production of White Fang? Second…who the fuck feeds their “pack of dogs” an entire dead lion?! Are we 100% positive this restaurant owner isn’t a serial killer?

Here’s the real problem, though (as if the rest wasn’t an issue): the owner was storing the dead lion right next to (possibly on top of, it seems unclear) food intended to be served at the restaurant. What’s worse, since that was their only health code violation, the place was allowed to keep operating.

Dear everyone who thinks the stuff people talk about in BCO every week is too absurd to be true: if you’ve never worked in a restaurant, you have NO idea of the crazy shit that goes on in one. Just no idea.