Not so sweet Valentine’s Day gift offers closure for failed romances

Forget chocolate, flowers or a romantic dinner. A zoo in Texas is offering singles the chance to name a cockroach after their ex and see it fed to a meerkat live on camera on Valentine’s Day.

In a campaign dubbed “Quit Bugging Me!!!” the El Paso Zoo says the roach is a perfect Valentine’s gift for those needing closure on a past relationship that didn’t make the grade.

It said a cockroach would be assigned to each nominee and the bugs would be fed to meerkats in an event streamed on the zoo’s website and Facebook page on February 14.

Zoo officials said Madagascar hissing cockroaches would likely be used for the feast.

“They do hiss. They are a very large species of cockroach we actually breed here for feeding purposes,” Sarah Murphy, an education specialist at the zoo, told the local ABC station.