Toddler mauled to death at Pittsburgh Zoo

What on earth is wrong with parents?!?! How could you do such a stupid thing?!?! My heart breaks for this little boy, and I can't even begin to imagine the fear and pain he went through.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/child-mauled-to-death-by-dogs-at-pittsburgh-zoo.html


A toddler was mauled to death today after falling into the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

The boy, who was around 3 years old, fell 14 feet over a railing and into the exhibit, said Barbara Baker, director of the Pittsburgh Zoo.

“Visitors alerted the staff immediately and they went into emergency response mode,†she said.

Zoo officials tried firing darts to scare the dogs away from the child, but the animals, which are pack hunters, did not immediately respond.

The dogs were eventually moved from the exhibit, with the exception of one, which had to be shot by a police officer after it continued to “be aggressive†to the boy, Baker said.

“Unfortunately by the time EMTs were able to get to him, the boy had passed away,†Baker said.

The zoo has been closed until further notice.

The identity of the boy, who Baker said was visiting the zoo with his mother and family friends, has not yet been released.

“We’ve had the exhibit up since 2006 and we have not had any issues with the dogs,†Baker said. “This is a tragic accident.â€
..

I heard about that earlier and it just pissed me off.

Why did your 3 year old need to be there? THEY ARE THREE THEY AREN'T GOING TO REMEMBER THIS. I hope they spay that woman.

And I hope there aren't any knee jerk reactions that harms any of those animals.

I think 3 years olds (and younger) can enjoy the zoo. I don't think anyone should put their child up onto a railing that clearly lies directly over an exhibit of wild animals... Common sense people. How horrible for that little boy

Wait... What? Why did a three year old need to be at the zoo? Is that a bad thing to do? Also, people can absolutely remember things they did when they were three.

Taking your toddler to a zoo is not a problem. Millions of people do this all the time without incident but how does your child climb up and fall into the enclosure without the parent noticing they are up there?

Just read Grabs post... So the parent was lifting the child over the enclosure barrier and dropped the child? Could this just be a horrible accident where said parent felt they had control of the situation only to have a drastic turn of events?

It is a totally tragic situation. I hesitate to blame the mom because even though it is a stupid mistake, it is a mistake. Motherhood is full of mistakes, some are life changing. Now, she may be a really stupid person...but she may be someone who made one bad choice with a tragic outcome. Regardless, she lost a child and its awful

This however baffles me. Are you asking why a three year old was at the zoo????? My children all started going to the zoo pretty much at birth. It CATERS to kids and families. Of course a three year old is going to be there, probably were hundreds of three year olds there

There is no possible explanation in my mind for letting go of a tiny child to balance on his own over something that horrifically dangerous. This may not be a very popular response, but no one can be that stupid. I have a sick feeling about the intentions of the mother. You hear stories of mothers going off the deep end and killing their children. There have been some notorious stories on the news. This thought that it may have been intentional flitted across my mind. Of course, no one can know what was in her mind. It certainly isn't fair to make a rash judgement this early on. But the thought did occur to me.

The only other thing I can think of is if the mother was on drugs. Even someone with a very low IQ wouldn't do that. I can understand stupidly putting the child up there but holding on. This is beyond comprehension. So very sad.

If the mother was holding on and for some unavoidable reason, let go....(I can't understand that though) then yeah...accident. But what do people think those barriers are for?

I hope the zoo doesn't get sued. It probably will though.

And side note, African Painted Dogs are so interesting and powerful. We just got to see a pack at the local Wild Canid Sanctuary. It is very unfortunate this happened to them as they already have a fairly negative view put on them They are VERY efficient hunters and very powerful.

I have not seen anything saying that the child was let go, like put up there and let go. My assumption is while holding him the grip was not good and he slipped. Again, I agree stupid putting him on the rail but I actually do see it pretty often.

Sorry I mean why did the kid need to be standing on that.

Talking at work I think there was maybe one person who said they though they might remember something from that age. Maybe. But they couldn't tell if they remembered it or remembered seeing pics and being told about it.

The ONLY reason I could think of that a not crazy mom who is trying to kill their kid is that she wanted them to have 'a better view' and IMO thoughts like that are more for the mom/parent than it is for the kid.

No, kids are very aware at three. They may not remember it for life but the are certainly cognizant and wanting to look then and learn a lot from life. Now, that is NOT excusing the mother making the decision to put him up there, that was stupid. BUT, it most likely WAS for the child wanting to see.

And all she had to do was say 'no it's dangerous'.

Sorry kind of pissy about it. Kid got killed on Halloween here because the parents let his 'older' sister walk him to school. I say 'older' because she was only 12. They dressed him in all black/dark clothing saying it was a 'costume' and the kid got hit and killed by a car.

It kind of annoys me that people who are that irresponsible are allowed to have kids.

This.

Also, I kind of hope this mother was just another nut trying to kill her child because I can't imagine having to deal with your childs death, knowing you dropped them and THEN have the whole world villifying you as a murderer and a psycho .

12 is old enough to babysit in this country.

Sometimes things are just a matter of BAD THINGS HAPPEN. I don't think there is much wrong with a 12 year old walking with her brother

Our babysitter is 13. Should I not be allowed to have a
Child because it is just so stupid?

Exactly. Its awful, just awful

This is so horrible and heartbreaking for the child especially. It makes me want to cry just picturing how it ended for him. If I was there I'd have jumped in and tried to save him. 14 feet isn't that far for an adult. I can't understand why nobody did that. Why the zoo workers just fired darts instead of running in screaming and waving their arms and kicking at the dogs. Anything to stop what was happening. He might not be dead if someone had.

12 years old obviously wasn't old enough to realize that she needed to hold her brother's hand so he wouldn't run into the street.

I think having a babysitter who is 13 is your choice. But if anything happens and she/he reacts like a child, since they still are, the situation may not be handled as well as it should be.

My point was the thought was FOR the kid, not for the parent. YES, obviously the mom shouldve said no but I stand my the most likely scenario was she was thinking of her child and wanting him to see.

Tragic, but 12 is definitely old enough to walk a younger child across the street. Geez, I was walking to school by myself with a group by the time I was 6. Babysitting infants by 12. My aunt's neighbor was killed while crossing the street with his baby, he was an adult. Its tragic and horrible. Was he not old enough? In his 30s?

Yeah, you can't judge the value of an experience for a young child by whether they will remember it as adults or even as teens.

This sounds like a horrible tragedy all around, for the child and for the animal that was killed as a result. Hopefully more details will come to light as to what went wrong so it can be prevented in the future, but so far this sounds like a serious lapse in either parental judgement, attention, or both.

This is a horrible tragedy. People make mistakes.. parents makes mistakes. How many times did I climb trees I certainly shouldn't have? Played by oceans and rivers? rode my bike down roads? These are all mistakes my parents made by allowing me to do and could have ended in tragedy.

I think rubbing salt in an already open wound is a little much. I wouldn't want to see anyone bear the loss of losing a child. And to know that loss was your fault and that the child suffered.. I can't even imagine the pain.

I normally never quote the bible of all things, but doesn't it go something like "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"

.. I've done irresponsible things that could have gotten the children I love injured and killed. ... I've let kids play at the park whilst half paying attention, I let kids go to the pool and went inside to cook or go to the bathroom, I took them to the movies and didn't put them in car seats..
I starting babysitting my younger family members at a young age but I KNEW BETTER. They were my responsibility and I love them and can't imagine how I would feel if something had happened.

I am all for punishing negligence and abuse...and if this was an issue of either I would agree. but from what it sounds like, this was a horrible mistake.

My heart goes out to the entire family..and even the mother. Is she irresponsible? Yes.. but nobody could hate her more than she probably hates herself right now.

Was he wearing all back while it was dark and then running into a busy street? If so obviously it wouldn't be an age issue at 30 but it is a responsible thinking issue. Now if he was crossing safely and a car came from no where and hit him that's a totally different story and isn't even similar to what I posted about.

And I'm sorry if it sounds heartless I feel horrible for the child who died. Not so much for the mom who thought putting her child in a dangerous situation was a good idea.