Tragedy today at Pittsburgh Zoo

[pittsoccer33]

i left the zoo just before this happened - the national kidney walk was there today, so there was probably an above average ratio of adults to children in the zoo.

we were heading towards the highland park bridge and saw all of the emergency personnel responding.

im probably most upset that no adults went in there after him. when i walked past that exhibit literally minutes earlier, there were dozens of adults around. i have no doubt id have jumped in there if i were walking past. 30 adults jumping in could possibly have stopped it.

the post gazette reported nobody tried to help. id be damned if i stood there watching a small child die.

[Ben Klingston]

i left the zoo just before this happened - the national kidney walk was there today, so there was probably an above average ratio of adults to children in the zoo.

we were heading towards the highland park bridge and saw all of the emergency personnel responding.

im probably most upset that no adults went in there after him. when i walked past that exhibit literally minutes earlier, there were dozens of adults around. i have no doubt id have jumped in there if i were walking past. 30 adults jumping in could possibly have stopped it.

the post gazette reported nobody tried to help. id be damned if i stood there watching a small child die.

This. I have to think that people didn't realize what happened, but that should have only taken a couple seconds and, I'm sure, the screaming of the mother and others.

[JeffDFD]

My wife just told me she read the parents, who were being treated by a therapist and perhaps going to western psych and now missing. It also sounds like all 11 dogs immediately went at the child...8 were called back and 3 were at the kid and then the one was shot after getting aggressive at a zookeeper.

[mac5155]

I dont know anything about these animals but i would imagine that multiple humans in the pit would have somewhat distracted the aggressive one.

[pittsoccer33]

it all blows me away. the kidney walk today was my first time in the zoo in a long while. growing up we had a family membership and i remember going often - i remember when all the new signs went up in the 80s and when the current primate house opened.

i talked to my mom on the phone today and she said "i was nervous for you and your sister to climb on the fake ant hill near the rhino pen, you guys were not allowed to climb on any rocks and were definitely not allowed to sit on any fences"

[Hockeynut!]

I went to The Wilds, an animal sanctuary near Zanesville, earlier this year and took a guided tour (which I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys seeing exotic animals in a non "zoo" setting). They had African Wild Dogs and the tour guide said that they were the only animals at the Wilds in which the handlers would not enter the fenced area. The trainers would go in with the cheetahs, etc., but the African Wild Dogs were too dangerous because of their pack mentality. I can't imagine how horrifying this attack was for all involved.

[JeffDFD]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/0 ... 73268.html

[shafnutz05]

Dont know the story....

But gotta find someone to blame.

Years of no incidents, and something like this happens. Certainly not the child's fault, is it?

[Geezer]

Dont know the story....

But gotta find someone to blame.

Years of no incidents, and something like this happens. Certainly not the child's fault, is it?

I'm going by what the local news channels said.

[ulf]

I think it's pretty obvious the mom is pretty dumb for putting the kid up there. No way around that.

[Geezer]

People really suck sometimes. Tragedy like this happens and right away blame is placed and Darwinism quips are made. Wonder if anyone knows the full story of what actually happened.

You gotta love the "holier than thou" quips. Someone puts their child in harms way to such an extent that the child actually DIES, and anyone who suggests that maybe the parentts were culpable is taken to task.

The age of personal responsibility has definitely passed.

And telling other posters they "suck"'for suggesting the parents weren't exactly the most responsible parties is not exactly standup behavior itself.

These parents are mentally defective. You don't put a toddler on a railing. The father is as imbecilic as the mother. He also is a gutless coward for not dropping down there to protect his son. I'd like to see them prosecuted but that won't happen. I reserve my sympathy for the toddler who's life was snuffed out because he was born to morons. If I were a judge they wouldn't get jail time if they agreed to a vasectomy and tubal ligation.These people deserve no pity.

I recant what I said about the Dad who one report said wasn't there. The mother is a cretin.

[Hockeynut!]

BTW, most of the articles are using photos that make these dogs look like something out of a horror movie. When we saw them in Ohio, they were quite beautiful animals.

[pittsoccer33]

and its so sad, because literally a half hour before the attack this is exactly what i saw hockeynut. there mustve been two vantage points on their pen, because i was behind glass looking at basically this picture.

[Geezer]

How do you not see the "holier than though" aspect of your own comments?
There's no need to defend my comment.
And as for the parent.... Wasn't there, don't know exactly what happened, won't be the judge of a person in such an awful situation.

If the reports are right I'll judge the Hell out of them for basically causing a toddler's death. Who protects toddler if not their parents? If the Dad wasn't present, per one report, he's not at fault although he married a complete dolt. I hope the mother never gives birth again. The legal system should give her a tube tied vs jail choice. This was absolutely criminal om her part. I'd rate it as bad as DUI with your kids in your car. I feel badly for very stupid people but they should still be held responsible.

[Why Not Us]

The guy who died at a Texas Rangers game fell from a similar distance to his death. Albeit not immediately. So while I doubt the child died from the fall, I'm willing to bet he was too dazed to even comprehend "run away" as was reportedly yelled at him by personnel.

[Geezer]

People really suck sometimes. Tragedy like this happens and right away blame is placed and Darwinism quips are made. Wonder if anyone knows the full story of what actually happened.

You gotta love the "holier than thou" quips. Someone puts their child in harms way to such an extent that the child actually DIES, and anyone who suggests that maybe the parentts were culpable is taken to task.

The age of personal responsibility has definitely passed.

And telling other posters they "suck"'for suggesting the parents weren't exactly the most responsible parties is not exactly standup behavior itself.

Didn't read all the posts. Anyone who suggested that is are as big Dbags as the parents/parent present who are totally resonsible for the death of this kid;who is the only person deserving sympathy.

[Geezer]

The guy who died at a Texas Rangers game fell from a similar distance to his death. Albeit not immediately. So while I doubt the child died from the fall, I'm willing to bet he was too dazed to even comprehend "run away" as was reportedly yelled at him by personnel.

How the Hell could a toddler run away from predatory dogs who viewed him as a snack?

[Godric]

Hope the Zoo doesn't get sued... I love that place

Rip kid...

[MWB]

Dont know the story....

But gotta find someone to blame.

Years of no incidents, and something like this happens. Certainly not the child's fault, is it?

My point was that I think it's foolish to go judging people in a situation like this when we don't know what really happened. As soon as the story was posted people were ready to blame someone. Now it may turn out that it could have been prevented, but to immediately jump out and say,"stupid mother, stupid father, stupid whoever..." just seems... knee-jerky.

[Geezer]

:

i left the zoo just before this happened - the national kidney walk was there today, so there was probably an above average ratio of adults to children in the zoo.

we were heading towards the highland park bridge and saw all of the emergency personnel responding.

im probably most upset that no adults went in there after him. when i walked past that exhibit literally minutes earlier, there were dozens of adults around. i have no doubt id have jumped in there if i were walking past. 30 adults jumping in could possibly have stopped it.

the post gazette reported nobody tried to help. id be damned if i stood there watching a small child die.

What a bunch of gutless cowards. Too bad they can't have their pictures and names put on the internet. Damn them all.

[pittsoccer33]

these things are approximately the size of a german shepherd (50-80 pounds). i think if several adults intervened this could have been stopped.

[viva la ben]

This assigning of blame and determination of fault based on limited reports is reprehensable. Ive been to this exibit many times, countless parents have held their children up to the rail. How about expressing some modicum of sympathy before ripping parents who will have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives?

[Geezer]

My wife just told me she read the parents, who were being treated by a therapist and perhaps going to western psych and now missing. It also sounds like all 11 dogs immediately went at the child...8 were called back and 3 were at the kid and then the one was shot after getting aggressive at a zookeeper.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/11/ ... ibit-dies/
I'll add the zoo employees to the irresponsible Dbag list. If the doggies don't go back like they expect they didn't try to protect the kid from one **** dog? As far as the mother ,this cretin deserves to intensely suffer for the rest of her life.

[Froggy]

This assigning of blame and determination of fault based on limited reports is reprehensable. Ive been to this exibit many times, countless parents have held their children up to the rail. How about expressing some modicum of sympathy before ripping parents who will have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives?

[columbia]

That seems a bit harsh, Geezer.