Three year old dropped by mother to death at Zoo (Pittsburgh: credit, neighborhoods)

[Clint.]

Child Killed In Pittsburgh Zoo Exhibit - Upper St. Clair, PA Patch
Child mauled to death by African painted dogs at Pittsburgh Zoo - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Parents - don't hold your kids over zoo exhibits filled with wild animals.

Reminds me of a time at the Cleveland Zoo, near the cheetah exhibit...two cheetahs were eying a toddler on the other side of the fence and parents were smiling, saying things like, "oh, they like you!" in baby talk. I thought, Um, yeah - they'd probably like to eat him.

[Pghuser]

so tragic and avoidable

[EveKendall]

This is a terrible tragedy, and I am very sorry for this family, but I hope more dogs aren't put down because of this. It is not their fault--they are wild animals acting on their instincts.
I have seen people holding up their children over the railing and it is a REALLY bad idea. Animals may be cute but thy are often dangerous. Sad all around.

[groar]

this is awful, but it might be a good idea to refrain from passing judgment about the exact circumstances (the mother holding the kid up over the railing) at least until they're confirmed by something more than a patch article citing a tweet.

[Clint.]

Originally Posted by EveKendall

This is a terrible tragedy, and I am very sorry for this family, but I hope more dogs aren't put down because of this. It is not their fault--they are wild animals acting on their instincts.
I have seen people holding up their children over the railing and it is a REALLY bad idea. Animals may be cute but thy are often dangerous. Sad all around.

That's what I thought, too. Very tragic and sad for the family, no doubt, and it will a big burden for them, especially the mother, to now bear. But I hope the zoo is professional enough to acknowledge this is a user error - and that only so much can be done to protect humans from their own poor decision making - and no justification to kill animals. If they do decide to kill more of their animals then they should lose their accreditation and get new management asap.

[groar]

yeah i can agree with that. no matter what the circumstances, there's nothing wrong with the dogs. they are wild animals, and they did what comes naturally to them. people might not want to go see them for fun anymore, but it would be morally reprehensible to kill them (although i do think that it was fair enough that one was killed in the attempt to save the child, and i don't take killing animals lightly).

[Hopes]

So sad. The exhibit needs to be changed with a better barrier to protect people from doing stupid things though.

Of course the dogs should not be killed. It wasn't their fault. They were doing what they are meant to do.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by groar

this is awful, but it might be a good idea to refrain from passing judgment about the exact circumstances (the mother holding the kid up over the railing) at least until they're confirmed by something more than a patch article citing a tweet.

The second article the OP linked is a post gazette article quoting zoo officials.

[SteelCityRising]

It's tragic that ANY of the animals were eliminated to begin with for something that, while tragic, was the result of human negligence.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Hopes

The exhibit needs to be changed with a better barrier to protect people from doing stupid things though.

Better yet maybe the zoo should administer an I.Q. test as a requirement for entry?