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In reply to the discussion: Child mauled to death by African painted dogs at Pittsburgh Zoo Read more: http://www.post-gazette. [View all]TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)Read the article. Yes, this is absolutely horrible negligent parenting. The railing is there for a REASON. Only an absolute moron would purposely PUT a two year old kid on top of the railing where they can lose their balance and fall into a pit of wild animals. The purpose of the railing is so that people don't fall into the enclosure. But that is exactly what this parent did - they purposely PUT their two year old child on the top of the railing where the inevitable happened. I'm so sorry that this child was killed by an utterly stupid parent with absolutely no concern for their own child's safety.
As far as I'm concerned this is criminal negligence, and this parent needs to do some time for it. It's one thing to be forgetful or get busy and take your eye off what your kid is up to, but this goes far beyond that since it was the parent who purposely PUT the child into such danger. It's no different than if a parent plopped their kid down the the middle of traffic and told them to play.
That said, zoos need to build exhibits that are not only comfortable for the animals but immune from the colossal stupidity of zoo patrons. The fact that some extraordinary idiot was even able to place their child on the top of the railing where he/she could easily fall into the exhibit where the animals in it could harm them is a problem.