Tragedy today at Pittsburgh Zoo

[viva la ben]

A three year old was mauled to death after falling into the african painted dogs exibit.
We are members of the zoo and my wife has taken all three of our young children by herself during the week without a second thought. What a nightmare that poor family has to deal with.



http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/11/ ... ibit-dies/

[Pitt87]

Never taking my son to the zoo... well, thats probably not true. I just can't believe things like this happen. Unfathomable tragedy.

[FreeCandy44]

Wow that is horrible... :(

[columbia]

Police then shot and killed the dog or dogs.

Does not compute. The next round of wild beasts would do the same, if such a tragic situation arose again.

[Bioshock]

Police then shot and killed the dog or dogs.

Does not compute. The next round of wild beasts would do the same, if such a tragic situation arose again.

Yeah, and those dog are endangered as well. Not to sound cold, but why shoot them? The kid fell into their exhibit. It's not like they jumped out of the enclosure and killed the kid.

No winners here. Awful.

[Pavel Bure]

This has to be the parents fault right? That railing is pretty darn high. Were they holding him over the railing? What the eff

[columbia]

it sounds like they showed very poor judgment and the worst possible outcome happened.

Fault? Not so sure about that.
Horrible mistake, yes.

[JeffDFD]

Police then shot and killed the dog or dogs.

Does not compute. The next round of wild beasts would do the same, if such a tragic situation arose again.

I would imagine they were trying to save the kids and get the dogs away/prevent further damage. How else could they safely recover the kid is my guess.

[JeffDFD]

This has to be the parents fault right? That railing is pretty darn high. Were they holding him over the railing? What the eff

Hearing rumors the mother was holding the child up high to see better.

[mac5155]

man that mother is never going to get over that. so sad..

[ExPatriatePen]

I'd say this is an example of Darwinism, but that little boy sure didn't deserve that outcome.

[no name]

Police then shot and killed the dog or dogs.

Does not compute. The next round of wild beasts would do the same, if such a tragic situation arose again.

As a parent myself... for do respect of the parents of that child, it think they did the right thing. I know this won't be a popular opinion but i stand by it.

[PhantomJB93]

This is horrible and my thoughts and prayers go out to their family, that is horrifying. But I'd really like to know exactly how this happened. It's not easy for a three year old to just "fall" into an exhibit like that, either the parent(s) were doing something wildly irresponsible and holding him out over a railing, or the kid was a great climber and they let him out of their sight long enough for him to climb his way into there.

[mac5155]

I think they were holding him up, he leaned over, and fell out of her grasp.

[KG]

I think they were holding him up, he leaned over, and fell out of her grasp.

If that's the case, the parents should have just jumped in with the boy and fought to death...As a parent there is no recovering from that....

[Gaucho]

I'd say this is an example of Darwinism, but that little boy sure didn't deserve that outcome.

Dogs are more evolved then humans?

[slappybrown]

I'd say this is an example of Darwinism, but that little boy sure didn't deserve that outcome.

What the hell is wrong with you

[Spangler]

Police then shot and killed the dog or dogs.

Does not compute. The next round of wild beasts would do the same, if such a tragic situation arose again.

From what I read, sounds like the police shot the dog in an act to rescue the child. Doesn't say the dog was put down after the fact.

How dare they kill an animal to protect a small child.

[Hockeynut!]

I feel terrible for the mother, but this was a really terrible mistake on her part. The dogs didn't do anything "wrong", they did what was in their nature. African Wild Dogs are very efficient and "blood thirsty" hunters. The zoo will probably get sued for not having a higher fence, and perhaps rightfully so. Ultimately it's the zoo's responsibility to ensure that no one can fall into a cage. A 10 foot tall fence almost certainly would have prevented this.

[Gaucho]

How high was the fence?

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

Police then shot and killed the dog or dogs.

Does not compute. The next round of wild beasts would do the same, if such a tragic situation arose again.

From what I read, sounds like the police shot the dog in an act to rescue the child. Doesn't say the dog was put down after the fact.

How dare they kill an animal to protect a small child.

I can't speak for anyone else but I think some of the articles read like they put the dogs down afterward (kind of how you read about a vicious dog in a neighborhood attack). Which is different than shooting them to save the child.

[columbia]

In fact, the linked article - before it was changed - heavily implied that.
You can't control if KDKA edits their content and doesn't note it, Spangler, but spare me the sanctimony.

[MWB]

I feel terrible for the mother, but this was a really terrible mistake on her part. The dogs didn't do anything "wrong", they did what was in their nature. African Wild Dogs are very efficient and "blood thirsty" hunters. The zoo will probably get sued for not having a higher fence, and perhaps rightfully so. Ultimately it's the zoo's responsibility to ensure that no one can fall into a cage. A 10 foot tall fence almost certainly would have prevented this.

What did the mother do that was a mistake? I only read the linked article, so I was wondering.

[mac5155]

She was holding the kid and dropped them into the pit..

[MWB]

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.