Three year old dropped by mother to death at Zoo (Pittsburgh: eat, health)

[Dragonfly8]

Originally Posted by iliza

I do see your point, but IMO - a mistake is anything someone doesn't intentionally do. A mistake can include negligence, ignorance, stupidity, all of the above. Of course I would feel 0 compassion if that were the scenario (if I were the parent)! But one is led to assume that no one has their child's best interest at heart quite the same way a mother does. It's a bit easier to believe in utter negligence (while still a mistake) if it is the mistake of someone not as personal to your own child.

It's just one of those things that are extremely situational. Letting your child go to a sleepover at a close friend's house may seem like a little mistake if they catch the flu from one of the girls. But that same decision might be the biggest mistake you've ever made if the house catches fire and goes down.

Can you honestly say based off of her stupidity (as some would call it), she deserves this outcome?

I've never thought she deserved this outcome, and certainly neither did her little boy.

I know she didn't throw him to his death on purpose, I still believe she showed a careless disregard for his safety by standing him on that rail.

[gg]

African painted dogs that mauled child at Pittsburgh zoo will not be euthanized, CEO says - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Oleg Bach]

If these dogs are dangerous...they are now even more dangerous. Once they have tasted human blood they do not forget. From here on in they will look at those looking at them as prey. Before this incident I am sure the dogs did not have a clue that human beings were food...now they know. I would most certainly put up a more secure barrier...if someone else falls into the dog pit..the animals will react twice as fast.

[iliza]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

The mother chose to lift up a small child and balance him atop a four foot protective barrier.
That goes beyond a freak accident.

Tragic, sure... but very easily prevented.

Yes, but the way it happened was very unlucky. How the boy hit the fence and "bounced" into the pit.

[riaelise]

Ironically, Cape Hunting Dogs have caused no recordable human fatalies in their native habitats. Lions (and now a man eating leopard) have caused more child deaths. I'm just wondering what triggered such an instant response..was it the act of the fall and seeing an injured, helpless creature..? Was it an unknown human entering the territory?

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by iliza

Yes, but the way it happened was very unlucky.

LOL, unlucky?

[Oleg Bach]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Ironically, Cape Hunting Dogs have caused no recordable human fatalies in their native habitats. Lions (and now a man eating leopard) have caused more child deaths. I'm just wondering what triggered such an instant response..was it the act of the fall and seeing an injured, helpless creature..? Was it an unknown human entering the territory?

The child probably had some bleeding after the fall..That would inspire the dogs to action...or the dog's handlers may have been in the habit of tossing them their meals...suddenly you have this child drop out of no where...If you were the dogs you may have assumed it was lunch time.

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by SolitaryThrush

I'm sure nobody feels worse about this than the mother, and she doesn't need our judgment right now. Or ever.

It's amazing that a few hours after it happened, internet commenters sitting at home on a Sunday had already figured out exactly what was wrong, exactly how they would have stopped it, and how they never would have been in that situation in the first place. Based on your experience around golden retrievers at the off-leash area, you no doubt understand exactly the behaviors of wild African dogs. Thank you for your pretend bravery, your pretend courage, you are truly heroes among us . . . . now go back to playing Words With Friends and complaining about Ike Taylor.
.

If you have children you should very well understand that it isn't courage or bravery, and it surely isn't pretend for that matter. Some have made the point on here that you don't know how you'll react until you're put in that situation. That's valid for a variety of situations, especially when self preservation comes into play, but it is superceded by the instinct to protect one's offspring.

Its a love you don't understand until you have kids. Maybe you do have them, maybe you don't, but I know what my actions will be if my child were put in danger. I'm not saying this to justify the people I believe your post is aimed at, as quite honestly its inhuman to feel anything but empathy for that family right now. There isn't a word for the hell that must be losing your child, especially to such a horrific end.

Accidents can and will happen with kids. Most of the time they're simply bumps or scrapes. No one deserves what this family is going through, but the fact that neither the mother nor anyone in the crowd went in after the boy is simply alien to me. I can't wrap my mind around it.

[iliza]

Police, neighbors identify Pittsburgh zoo mauling victim | TribLIVE

New info.

[Clint.]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Ironically, Cape Hunting Dogs have caused no recordable human fatalies in their native habitats. Lions (and now a man eating leopard) have caused more child deaths. I'm just wondering what triggered such an instant response..was it the act of the fall and seeing an injured, helpless creature..? Was it an unknown human entering the territory?

Maybe it was the bouncing on the net and crying/screaming? A small, firghtened, frantically moving creature showing distress is like a dinner bell in the animal world.

They are pretty viscious. Apparently, relative to size, they have the second strongest bite among carnivores. And their method to kill is to disembowel prey. They charge into wildebeest herds to catch food in the wild; unless they have a strong fear of humans and run away at first sight, I'm not sure that a few unarmed people would be wise to take on a pack of them.

These days most humans eaten by big cats in Asia and Africa are targeted because those particular cats are too weak (from old age, missing teeth, disease, etc.) to hunt their normal prey and resort to taking humans because they're easier to catch and subdue...healthy animals may rarely or opportunistically take a human, but "maneaters" are almost always sick and near death.