Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium African Wild Dog Exhibit

Hey everybody, let someone from around the Pittsburgh area vent a little:

First, how people from around here are reacting to what's going on with this situation has me somewhat embarrassed to be from this area. All of a sudden, everyone's an expert on safety, wild dogs, and a great love for being on tv or the radio. One radio station here is leading the charge in blaming the zoo and probably won't be happy until its accreditation is gone.

With all of that being said, here is the disturbing thing here. In my eyes, this woman killed this poor little boy. This little boy will have no justice, none. Within 24 hours, it was already determined that the mother isn't going to be charged at all and that infuriates me because there is no hard core investigation of her acts here. This was child endangerment at the least and remember when Michael Jackson held his baby over the rail everyone wanted his head. When it comes to this woman, 'oh it was an accident,' 'she was a wonderful mother,' and on and on. We will never know what happened here. There is no chance.

Final thoughts-

I would love to know if she was reaching for a cell phone when this happened.

Why would you put a squirming kid on a rail? I've been around 2-year-olds they're very squirmy, what happened to just holding a kid and looking over the rail?

Note, a cheetah lived in that display for ages, no one seemed concerned about the display then. I find that strangely ironic.

Want to hear something else? When I first saw those dogs, I thought the cheetah was still there, I looked down, saw them and thought to myself, "Oh okay, those are weird looking dogs." And moved along- suddenly, they've been proclaimed as a heavy draw which is weird. Any time I went to this zoo no one was around them. Usually, people looked down, tried to spot them, and went on their way. They certainly weren't the type of animal that people would hang out at for a long period of time (like tigers or elephants.)

Hmmmm....

Here's the main point, why is it in our society people do something careless and never want to take responsibility for their actions? Why is that? This woman is going to eventually make a fortune from this and trust me, the way people are going around here, within a year or so, she'll be making the talk show circuit. That infuriates me because a little boy is dead and all everyone seems to care about is popping up in a tv or radio interview.

Finally, look you can call me mean and hateful and that's wonderful but in my eyes, she killed her little boy. Remember, I'm entitled to an opinion. If this would've happened in a city like New York, I think a really hardcore investigation would occur. Unfortunately, here this will never happen.

 

Smokeycat3 do you think the zoo will get rid of the dogs eventually? I hope not.....

 

I agree with you Smokeycat3. Whenever something happens at a zoological institution like this, everyone thinks they know everything. I do not think that they will lose their accreditation, especially since they were just re-accredited several months ago. This exhibit had been around during the prior accreditation five years ago and may have been around at the one ten years ago. Average people do not seem to realize that the reason for the animals to be in exhibits at zoos are not only to protect people from the animals, but to also protect the animals from people. Stupid people in particular. The type of people who say look at the monkey and the animal is actually a lemur or an orangutan. We are suppose to be one of the most intelligent species on Earth, but sometimes I really wonder about that. Especially after incidents like this.

 

Don't worry I agree completely

We are intelligent due to Darwin's theory of evolution, they stupid die while the smart breed. Unfortunately modern life and laws to protect the stupid and raise their children even though they are to stupid to do it themselves meaning Darwin's theory is working in reverse. This example although unfortunate for the poor child is one example where Darwin's theory actually worked, as his parents will pass on their genes less now, depending on how many other children they have who survive.

 

Well, I hope not and right now I don't think they will. However, this area is tough to call, when these 30 days are up and say they go back on display before Christmas (for example)- who knows what the talk show crowd will do? That'll be interesting to watch. If it gets to nasty around here I bet they'll be moved. If the parents started some kind of movement get these dangerous animals out of zoos- I wouldn't be surprised.

With that part being said, I've been hearing excuses all week, about the tremendous lack of knowledge on how dangerous these animals are. I hate to say this but hellllllllllooooo- they're zoo animals- they're in there for a reason. I've been hearing there should've been a better sign- are you kidding me? You can tell people don't actually read anymore even the simplest descriptions...yeah I'm venting again, I can't help it though. This makes me mad that AUTOMATICALLy no charges against this woman and this is all on the zoo...

Give me a break...

 

A couple of quick things too...

Monty you provided a great outlook on this too using Darwin. That absolutely sums up the acts of this mother.

I don't think they'll loose their accreditation either. However, I don't think certain media outlets here will be happy until they do.

And Tiger Valley (cute bear avi by they way)- I think those dogs apeared in 2006, a cheetah was in there for a long time (he died I think of old age). The reason I remember this is I remember going up and looking for the cheetah and seeing the dogs and thinking, "what happened to the cheetah?" I took a photo of them too but I can't find it if I do I'll put it on here. The thing about that exhibit is, it never was the type where people hung around for a long period of time. Suddenly, everyone is relaying incidents of huge crowds there constantly.

Want to know what really bugs me though about this whole story? The original story said there weren't any witnesses (like walking by or anything) but after about 2 days everyone saw it. People are on the radio, etc talking about it saying they were theree. One host even said- "How are you after seeing that?" Now I don't know about you but if I witnessed this I wouldn't want to talk to anyone, at least for awhile.

Just a thought...

 

The mother of the child will not be prosecuted.
Prosecutor: Mother of boy killed by wild African dogs at Pittsburgh zoo won’t be charged - The Washington Post

 

Yeah, I already knew this, thanks. I don't even know why you answered this- I'm not getting into a debate with how saintly and wonderful this mother is. The local news here said that they're looking to charge someone at the zoo with child endangerment or manslaughter. So, enough said, thanks though, but I knew this when this broke. KDKA in Pittsburgh won't be happy until that zoo shuts down (my own opinion).

 

Zoo Exhibit Platform To Be Removed

Zoo Exhibit Platform To Be Removed CBS Pittsburgh

I don't agree with this decision

 

I don't agree with that either... It seems like they're still investigating to see if the zoo faces criminal charges.
Also people are throwing a fit over a calendar that the zoo sells that just happens to feature the dogs in the month of March. *sigh*

 

The Wild Dogs were replaced with a Cheetah.
Also: Pittsburgh Zoo: Boy's mauling death is mom's fault - SFGate

 

Im glad the zoo is standing up for itself instead of just paying up. It should be tossed out of court because the zoo is right. She put him on the rail, she lost her grip, she is to blame. The court shouldnt have to waste its time with this nonsense.

 

Totally in agreement. I'm tired of people not taking responsibility for there own mistakes. Unfortunately animal facilities can't have "common sense tests" at the front gate.

 

Your right they cant afford to have a "common sense test" because really how many people would pass? The only other alternative if they cant trust guests to have basic common sense and the ability to follow simple rules is to put guests in fully enclosed glass tunnels with soft padded floors so we cant do anything stupid to hurt ourselves. Im envisioning us walking around in a hamsters habitrail system with a soft floor.

 

I like it

 

I had a feeling you would after your common sense test comment. It only makes sense though. If we are too dumb as a society to use common sense and follow rules clearly displayed all over the property then shouldnt we be the ones in the enclosure. If we wont protect ourselves and our children we need to be protected from our own stupidity. Habitrail tunnels all over the zoos former paths is the simplest solution I can come up with. We would get impressive unobstructed views of the animals who could come right up to view the guests in their cage... i mean safely enclosed in the protective path... The zoos wouldnt have to worry about designing barriers between the guests and animals. No more worries about parents risking their childs life by dangling them over a dangerous animals enclosure. No more people being stupid and crossing barriers to get closer, im thinking about the mother who closed safety fences with her son and he got bitten by a bobcat. No more loons jumping into enclosures (that loon who jumped into the tigers cage in the Bronx or the genius who jumped into the polar bear enclosure in Germany... check youtube for that she gets what she deserves). No more animals getting sick or dying because people feed them (penguins eating coins comes to mind. Or sad incident in the 1990s where an orang drowned in Toronto after a fight over a cookie ended badly). Tunnels keep us safe from us and keep the animals safe from people. Win Win. Unless your a person who uses their brain and can follow basic instructions.

 

Pittsburgh zoo settles federal investigation of mauling death by African painted dogs - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette