I saw a Yahoo article on Monday about the toddler that was mauled to death at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The written part of the article gave the barest details and all of the commenters just seemed to want to call the mom stupid for putting the child on the rail to start with…
Blame
I understand everyone’s need to blame the parent for putting the kid on the railing, but I also remember how easy it was to make a momentary mistake in judgement when taking care of kids. Especially if you have several and one or two are super whiny. Babysitting taught me really fast that one little mistake could lead to big problems. And it always seemed to happen fast. So, I will give her the benefit of the doubt that she just wasn’t on the ball that day…
My General View
Overall, I think this entire situation is just tragic. My very best wishes go out to absolutely everyone involved. I couldn’t imagine the guilt and sorrow that this child’s family will have forever. I hope that the wild dogs aren’t harmed in any way for being wild dogs. I hope the zoo doesn’t get sued. As for the parent that put the child up on the rail, I think that fate has dealt a harsher punishment than our judicial system ever could. I rather the public’s money not get wasted on pursuing those charges either.
No Adults?
What I don’t understand was why an adult didn’t jump in after the kid? In every “Oops, a kid fell in” story in the last few years, an adult always followed suit. I mean, isn’t that just the natural parental reaction? It might be stupid as all heck to jump down an unknown distance to maybe survive enough to defend their kid, but parents seem to be genetically modified to do all sorts of heroic/brave/unintelligent things when the situation involves their children.
And as animals go, I would probably measure my odds against painted dogs as better than if it was a bear or lion exhibit…and that was the one I heard about. A kid fell into a lion enclosure…two adults followed and kept the curious cats at bay long enough for them to be sedated. I would think that a glorified pack of hyenas would be a bit easier to scare off than 3-4 female lions, but that may be my stupid mistake…
I can’t say for sure how I’d react to a situation like this. I know I am generally a big wussy but would like to think that I’d be a genetically modified idiot if I ever have a kid. BUT, I am by no means judging the adults that were there. I’m just super curious as to why sometimes there is immediate help, but this time there just wasn’t.
So, my question for anyone that may know…was there more to this story? Was it just not possible to help this kid? Am I nuts for thinking anyone else would jump in? I feel like something big was missing…
If it was my child I would jump in a heartbeat, if I’m going to be completely honest I would think twice for someone else? I couldn’t really know what I’d do unless I was in the situation. There has to be more to the story. I’m with you Crystal no need to charge this parent, the guilt is already a life sentence.
There is usually always more to the story then told. I doubt if anything will happen to the wild dogs as they are just being what they are. As for the parents I feel for them and cant imagine watching something like that happen to one of your kids. But you are right why didn’t someone jump in to help. They usually have back entrances and maybe the parents didn’t think they could survive the jump.
Thank you! For not immediately rushing to blame the parents in this tragic story. I get very tired of the instant reaction being to blame Mom and Dad (and often just Mom) for things that are completely outside the realm of normal things to worry about. I’ve seen people blaming Jessica Ridgeway’s mother for what happened to her. I know that this reaction is something people use to make themselves feel better: “This horrible thing will never happen to my family because *I’m* more responsible/more on the ball/more protective than that idiot was…” But it doesn’t change the fact that the poor parents in these cases need our support and not our condemnation.
As for your question about jumping into the enclosure, I think I remember that the railing was shoulder height. The mom (and I think it was just the mom there, not both parents) might not have had the upper body strength to get herself over the railing, even if lifting a toddler that high was no biggie.
Also, from the sounds of it, the dogs were there in a heartbeat. I really don’t think it’s necessary for people to place blame on the mom, because I assure you that she will spend the rest of her life placing more blame on herself than everybody else combined could possibly put on her.
Living in Pittsburgh there was a large media following on this story. Zoo staff responded immediately but the dogs are so vicious that they were not able to get to the toddler as quickly as necessary. Jack Hanna stated the tragedy was over before it began and no adult could have saved this poor child by jumping in. As a parent of a toddler I myself asked why the mom didn’t jump in but the shock of it all definitely froze her. The story is behind tragic and will hopefully lead to more safeguards for both humans and animals at zoos across the nation. My thoughts continue to be with this family….
Great points! I agree, and it is definitely hard to stay level headed about this situation. There is no one to blame and sometimes you just have to leave it at that.
I think that if this had been me with my hypothetical children, I probably would have been frozen in shock. For who knows how long after my child fell into the enclosure. Hopefully I’m never in a situation to know for sure how I’d react to something like that, but I do suspect there would be a delay in any action on my part simply because I know how I respond to certain things. It’s certainly possibly that this parent had the same problem I suspect I would. So in addition to not blaming the parent so harshly for putting the child up on the rail, it’s also important to not blame the parent for not jumping in.
And actually, I believe African wild dogs are far more vicious and successful hunters than lions or bears.
@Mandy, yeah, I would definitely not know how I’d react if it wasn’t a kid I knew…I really hope I never find out…
@Thomas, according to a commenter below, it all happened super fast. Apparently painted dogs do not screw around as long as lions and apes and bears…
@Emily, hey, I know that most children are just supremely lucky to make it through childhood at all. It takes a lot for me to immediately blame a parent…although, to be completely honest, I do cuss under my breath every time a kid starts running up and down aisles at the movie theater…that is when I blame the parents, lol.
@Money Beagle, yeah, I think tragedies like this pretty much can be blameless…the horror already happened and no one intended it. Now to deal with the after math…
@Jennifer, thanks for that extra info. That really and truly sucks.
Poor everybody…poor kid, poor mom, poor bystanders…that just sucks…
@Chia-Yi, yep. Well said.
@Madison, I just looked up painted dogs, and you are very correct. They apparently attack super fast and go for the kill. Way faster than lions or bears. I guess it is actually a good thing that no one else jumped in or they’d just be dead too. Tragedies like this just seem so pointless and horrific.
There is just no way to even consider how miserable that mom will be forever. I’m sure she was in shock or physically unable to jump in. Smart or not, I would have been in there. Enjoy every day. You never know what could happen tomorrow.
I completely agree with the other commenters, especially Kim. Enjoy life every day because you just don’t know when it will be your last. I too would like to think that I would jump into action, but until something like this happens to you, you just don’t know and therefore I wouldn’t pass judgement. More than one life was ruined that day, I am sure the poor parents (especially the mom) will never be the same.
Everything I’ve been able to find on this says pretty much the same thing: the child was lifted up (no details on how high he was lifted or how high the fence was or anything of that nature) by mom, he fell fourteen feet, was set upon immediately by African wild dogs, the zoo personal tried to save him, calling in the police (who ended up shooting one of the more aggressive dogs), but it was too late. No mention of how the mother reacted, although any reaction, from diving to his rescue to standing there stunned, would be understandable with her child being attacked. My heart goes out to her, and to any parent who has to suffer such a loss.
The thing about human nature is we’re quick to judge others – quick to lay blame, but not to accept it when the tables are turned.
Hm. We don’t know what kind of physical condition the parents were in, or how far a drop it was into the animals’ enclosure. One report I saw said the kid dropped onto a barrier meant to stop a person’s fall but, horrifically, bounced off. That suggests it was a LONG way down there…people may not have been able to see how they could get into the pen without being too seriously injured in a jump to help the child.
Also few of us carry a weapon into a zoo. About the best a person could do would be to grab some elderly person’s cane. But who on earth would have the presence of mind to do such a thing?
African painted dogs are extremely dangerous, because they are powerful, effective, and highly coordinated hunters. These are not your ordinary pit bulls. They have the strongest bite quotient of any meat-eating mammal.
Not to pass judgment on the mother — as you note, that would be churlish and cruel at this late date — but I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen lift up their kids and set them on railings meant to keep people from falling into a wild carnivore’s pen. I’ve also seen them do it at the Grand Canyon. It would be good if this child could be memorialized so oblivious folks might grasp that the barriers are there for them, not for someone else.