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Child mauled to death at Pittsburgh Zoo

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alphaNoid

Banned
This is the thing of nightmares.. what a horrific story to read. I cannot comprehend the sight of a 3 year old child being eaten alive in front of people, in front of the mother!

This story robbed a bit of my innocence.
 
Also fuck the cops for killing the dog, I'll take an endangered animal over a little kid with obviously poor genes any day.

LJTah.gif


What in the actual fuck

UPDATE:

"Pittsburgh police Major Crimes Lt. Kevin Kraus said the boy's 34-year-old mother placed the child in a standing position on a wooden railing overlooking the enclosure."
When I read this in the OP, my jaw literally dropped.

ffs... horrible story all around.

This is why we can have nice things
 

n64coder

Member
In the video, it seems that the exhibit was under some sort of construction after the accident. I wonder if they were going to frame it such that windows block all openings or more mesh. Stupid parent.

Reminds me of this incident with Michael Jackson although fortunately, nothing bad happened to the baby.

Michael-Jackson-danngles-baby-over-balcony.jpg
 

rinse82

Member
Oh my God....I can't imagine that for the mom...watching helplessly as your toddler is mauled to death, fuck.

Put her on suicide watch
 

winjet81

Member
On one hand, the mother should not be allowed to care for children again, for fear that she could another child in danger again. On the other hand, the pain of seeing her 2-year-old child mauled in front of her is probably punishment enough.

Reminds me of the mother a few months back who forgot her kid in the back of her car and then spent the entire day working at her office... just to get back to the car at 5 pm to find her kid dead from heat stroke.

What does the law say for people like this? Charge them with manslaughter or just let them be?
 

Kinyou

Member
They were on National Geographic's World's Deadliest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82kQTkWnKwg

Most animals don't attack adult humans, but I don't think 14 of them would have that much difficulty killing an unarmed adult if they wanted to.
I guess usually they wouldn't be aggressive, but if they consider the boy as their "food" it would probably be really dangerous to try to separate him from them. Even my Golden Retriever turns into a wild animal when you try to take his food away.
 
Sounds like it is possible the kid died from the fall first. I hope that is the case, or at least that he was completely knocked out for any mauling. The thought of of him being essentially eaten alive is absolutely terrifying.

Have you guys seen that video where the young kid fell into the gorilla cage? Better outcome in that situation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihUGT7MdDB4
 

Klocker

Member
Even though it seem like it's the parent's fault, that'a a tough lesson to learn. I imagine she placed the child on the railing to get a better look, then took her eyes off the child.



Wow.

No excuse. Irresponsible and idiotic.

My opinion just another example of people thinking rules are stupid and don't apply to them combined with lack of awareness of consequences.


No, rules are made because as a society we learn from mistakes and put safeguards in place to prevent more tragedy
 
The mother made a horrible mistake, and she's going to have to live with the consequence for the rest of her life. As stupid and preventable as it was, I wouldn't wish that kind of torture on anyone.

Also fuck the cops for killing the dog, I'll take an endangered animal over a little kid with obviously poor genes any day.

qHBf6.gif


I really hope you don't have kids.
 

LuCkymoON

Banned
The mother made a horrible mistake, and she's going to have to live with the consequence for the rest of her life. As stupid and preventable as it was, I wouldn't wish that kind of torture on anyone.
.

You make is sound like she had an abortion, she didn't.
 

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
Fucked up story on all counts. I find it kind of ridiculous that you'd kill a wild animal for acting like a wild animal, but I guess the child was endangered at that point, and this wasn't after the entire ordeal or anything. So that kinda makes sense.

If it could of saved the child they should of shot every damn dog there
 
Really crappy situation all around, I just hope the zoo or dogs get the brunt end of it. There are countless exhibits where you could get mauled if you were to hop over/fall over the rail, it's not the dogs' fault for having basic animal instincts. And those dogs are incredibly good hunters for their size.

why should the dogs get the brunt end of it?

in this case should they have shot all 11 dogs with either bullets or darts ?

no need to shoot. darts aren't catch all and you need right dosage and such. loud noises or sometimes even charging them is enough to scare them away.

I'm just saying that if that happened to my daughter, I'd jump in there after them. I know things are different when you're in the situation, but I also know what it is to be a dad since I am one, and watching my daughter get ripped apart by dogs isn't something I'd be okay with.

Situations like a person on the street that I don't know being assaulted by random people that I don't know and this situation are quite different.

actually I would hope you wouldn't put your daughter over the railing so you wouldn't have to make the choice of jumping in.

A 14 foot drop does complicate things, but if you lowered yourself as far as possible before jumping then the drop would be a lot more manageable. Either way, I'd be in there. I'm sure the mom feels horrible about it now and will probably replay that day in her head for the rest of her life. That's probably worse than anything anyone could say to her.

This part does certainly seem like negligent parenting to me:

it's her fault.

So basically the issue is that the wire mesh was not fully-secured to the top of the railing along its entire length? The early reports made it sound like this kid climbed to the top where the mesh meets the roof instead of falling through the bottom of it. That must have been a pretty decently-sized gap in the mesh for small child to slip through. Either that, or the kid was in the absolute midpoint of the open seam and the mother completely lost a grip on him for him to slip through with enough force to open a gap.

there was no wire mesh there, but there's a 14 foot drop.

If it could of saved the child they should of shot every damn dog there


that's just as dumb.

You don't have kids.

so only people who have kids feel compassion now? you the only arbiters of what should be done in any situation?
 

CREMSteve

Member
Not at all, but speaking from personal experience, having kids changed me drastically, to the point where it's no longer possible for me to respond to a question like this without considering the well being of my children first answer foremost.

I'd eliminate an entire species of dog to save them, no question. This coming from a vegetarian that values animal life greatly.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
The zoo is in deep shit. There is only a handful of exhibits there where you can possibly "fall in". Off the top of my head, the sea lions, the beaver, and that is about it. A couple of exhibits you could easily break in to if you were an unsupervised 13 year old or something, but those are just like the camel and the lama and that stuff. The large cats and bears all have either safety glass or a large ditch that wouldn't be possible to circumvent.

Apparently these dogs are the most dangerous exhibit there and they had none of these additional safety measures. I agree that it is largely the Mom's fault, however a lawyer will have a field day with this. There is only 1 layer of safety in this exhibit unlike all of the other dangerous animals. This is compounded by the fact that I'm guessing the majority of people don't know how dangerous these animals are, since daily exposure to dogs is of the domesticated variety.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
that's dumb. you're already dead from the fall. humans aren't gods, they're supposed to be part of this world. sometimes we die in stupid ways.

Kid was alive after the fall according to news reports I have seen. He bounced off of the cell phone catcher fence thing which broke his fall and he really only fell like 6 feet onto dirt.
 

Wes

venison crêpe
Was there a seperate barrier between the balcony and the dogs? It sounds like there wasn't and I'm sure that is considered standard enclosure design practice for such animals.
 
Not at all, but speaking from personal experience, having kids changed me drastically, to the point where it's no longer possible for me to respond to a question like this without considering the well being of my children first answer foremost.

I'd eliminate an entire species of dog to save them, no question. This coming from a vegetarian that values animal life greatly.

well I have people that I care greatly about too. but i'm not going on a killing spree against animals. i'm just not, and I think deep down you know you're not.

its just an animal.

we're all animals.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
The zoo is in deep shit. There is only a handful of exhibits there where you can possibly "fall in". Off the top of my head, the sea lions, the beaver, and that is about it. A couple of exhibits you could easily break in to if you were an unsupervised 13 year old or something, but those are just like the camel and the lama and that stuff. The large cats and bears all have either safety glass or a large ditch that wouldn't be possible to circumvent.

Apparently these dogs are the most dangerous exhibit there and they had none of these additional safety measures. I agree that it is largely the Mom's fault, however a lawyer will have a field day with this. There is only 1 layer of safety in this exhibit unlike all of the other dangerous animals. This is compounded by the fact that I'm guessing the majority of people don't know how dangerous these animals are, since daily exposure to dogs is of the domesticated variety.

Yup. Big money coming the mom's way.
 

GRIP

Member
The zoo is in deep shit. There is only a handful of exhibits there where you can possibly "fall in". Off the top of my head, the sea lions, the beaver, and that is about it. A couple of exhibits you could easily break in to if you were an unsupervised 13 year old or something, but those are just like the camel and the lama and that stuff. The large cats and bears all have either safety glass or a large ditch that wouldn't be possible to circumvent.

Apparently these dogs are the most dangerous exhibit there and they had none of these additional safety measures. I agree that it is largely the Mom's fault, however a lawyer will have a field day with this. There is only 1 layer of safety in this exhibit unlike all of the other dangerous animals. This is compounded by the fact that I'm guessing the majority of people don't know how dangerous these animals are, since daily exposure to dogs is of the domesticated variety.

Well, I'm no lawyer, but the simple fact that the mother put her child in a position where he could fall into the exhibit would make me think that the Zoo is not at all to blame. The safety measures that were in place would have been sufficient if it wasn't for the mother putting her child on the railing.
 
well I have people that I care greatly about too. but i'm not going on a killing spree against animals. i'm just not, and I think deep down you know you're not.

I don't get it, so you wouldn't kill a few animals to save someone you cared about? You'd just stand there watching them get mauled to death?
 
The zoo is in deep shit. There is only a handful of exhibits there where you can possibly "fall in". Off the top of my head, the sea lions, the beaver, and that is about it. A couple of exhibits you could easily break in to if you were an unsupervised 13 year old or something, but those are just like the camel and the lama and that stuff. The large cats and bears all have either safety glass or a large ditch that wouldn't be possible to circumvent.

Apparently these dogs are the most dangerous exhibit there and they had none of these additional safety measures. I agree that it is largely the Mom's fault, however a lawyer will have a field day with this. There is only 1 layer of safety in this exhibit unlike all of the other dangerous animals. This is compounded by the fact that I'm guessing the majority of people don't know how dangerous these animals are, since daily exposure to dogs is of the domesticated variety.

Pretty sure you could 'fall' into the Lions, Tigers and Bear exhibits, but you would be in a deep concrete ditch that would likely kill you from the fall. The kid wasn't looking over a railing, he was being hoisted on top of it by a parent.. that is a big no-no when it comes to child safety.
 

Jenov

Member
Well, I'm no lawyer, but the simple fact that the mother put her child in a position where he could fall into the exhibit would make me think that the Zoo is not at all to blame. The safety measures that were in place would have been sufficient if it wasn't for the mother putting her child on the railing.

I agree. Honestly I think the mother should be investigated for child negligence.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
Was there a seperate barrier between the balcony and the dogs? It sounds like there wasn't and I'm sure that is considered standard enclosure design practice for such animals.

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That fence thing you see was only designed to catch cell phones and cameras dropped from people leaning off the ledge to take pictures. The kid hit that but it wasn't strong enough to support his weight so it probably bent down and he rolled off of it.
 
I don't get it, so you wouldn't kill a few animals to save someone you cared about? You'd just stand there watching them get mauled to death?

no, but I don't like hyperbole and I sure as hell think it's never an either or situation as so many people think. basically take extra precaution with your damn kid! why put any 3-year old over any railing, ever? for any reason? hell most 3-year olds aren't even old enough to appreciate teh zoo to begin with.
 

zeioIIDX

Member
I was just at the zoo in Colorado with my 3 year old last weekend :/ It's always horrible to hear things like this. To be honest, it kinda just ruined the rest of my night, I'm a little depressed now. I wish things like this didn't happen to people/parents. I can't begin to imagine would the parents are going through...
 

oneils

Member
340a1d985006c860f635272c72b18d4c0331e12e.jpg


This is the enclosure.

Looks like there is a mesh barrier on top of the railing. I guess the kid got onto the railing, and fell through the mesh. I don't think any adult humans would be able to get through that mesh and into the exhibit.

edit: oops, missed the better picture in post 281.
 

CREMSteve

Member
I agree she made a huge mistake, but we don't know the whole story, there could have been others factors we don't know about. One would hope so, anyway.
 
340a1d985006c860f635272c72b18d4c0331e12e.jpg


This is the enclosure.

Looks like there is a mesh barrier on top of the railing. I guess the kid got onto the railing, and fell through the mesh. I don't think any adult humans would be able to get through that mesh and into the exhibit.

Not in the middle section. The mom stood the kid up on the railing and let go of him. He fell in almost immediately.
 

oneils

Member
Not in the middle section. The mom stood the kid up on the railing and let go of him. He fell in almost immediately.

So which railing? I can't really see any other than those in the enclosure. Other than that all I see is a metal fence surrounding the exhibit? Is there a railing that is not really easily seen from these photos?

edit: oh, there is no mesh in the middle section of the enclosure? Is that what you mean? if so, WOW!
 

Hari Seldon

Member
So which railing? I can't really see any other than those in the enclosure. Other than that all I see is a metal fence surrounding the exhibit? Is there a railing that is not really easily seen from these photos?

The middle one as illustrated here:

20121105zoo_painted_dog778.png
 

Parch

Member
The only criminal charges should be to the parent for child endangerment.
Seems like the zoo has reasonable security, and there must be posted signs as well. At some point the people have to take responsibility and not put it all on the zoo. Reasonable security is the key. The zoo isn't responsible for blatant stupidity.
 

akira28

Member
They should have used bullets. Kill 4 dogs, you still have 7 left. Might have saved the child.

You can't blame the animal for doing what an animal does. But I wouldn't hesitate to kill an endangered animal to save a child under the age of 12.
 
The only criminal charges should be to the parent for child endangerment.
Seems like the zoo has reasonable security, and there must be posted signs as well. At some point the people have to take responsibility and not put it all on the zoo. Reasonable security is the key. The zoo isn't responsible for blatant stupidity.

I agree with you completely. Sadly, the lawyers will find a way to make the zoo responsible. I guarantee it.

That mom should have never had her kid stand up there, and if she did, should have been holding on so tight to keep him from moving, let alone falling. Just stupid, stupid, stupid.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
On one hand, the mother should not be allowed to care for children again, for fear that she could another child in danger again. On the other hand, the pain of seeing her 2-year-old child mauled in front of her is probably punishment enough.

That's a bit much without knowing anything else about her.
 
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