A two-year-old child died after falling into a pit of wild African dogs sunday at the Pittsburgh zoo.

  • Kevin Pierce

    Parent: WTF?

    • CH

      I really try not to be judgmental, because it¨’s so easy to say ”I would never do that” when in reality we indeed could have done exactly the same thing… but… the child lost his balance and fell after being put on top of the fence… I read that as the parent not holding onto the child, WTF??? The fall in itself could have been fatal.

      Perhaps it was written wrong and the parent did hold onto the child but lost the grip… or something… not that it in the end matters, but…

  • http://twitter.com/russellbrandom Russell Brandom

    #nitpick Pittsburgh! With an h! Ask Beschizza if you don’t believe me.

    • Momof2boys

      THIS! Pittsburg is a totally different city!

  • Ipo

     Lycaon pictus is  variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf.  I love them. 
    I would kill myself if I had accidentally dropped my child into their prison without immediately jumping in to fight the beasts.  

  • Mister44

    Not that I’d ever be dumb enough to have my kid fall into an exhibit – there was only a 14ft-11ft drop. That isn’t that high. I am pretty sure I would have jumped in after him. Then again if it was just the mom maybe she  wouldn’t have the strength to fight them off. Still someone could have jumped in. I don’t think I could watch something like that with out doing something.

    • http://twitter.com/cjporkchop cjporkchop

      “[The CEO of the zoo} says the animals attacked the child so quickly that by the time a veterinarian and other zoo staffers arrived seconds later, they determined it would have been futile to try to rescue the child”

      Once LARGE prey is down, these creatures can eat it alive in no time. Trying to rescue a toddler from them would be like trying to rescue a little Hostess cupcake that you’ve already taken 3 bites from– Not much left to rescue.

      • Mister44

         Fair enough. Tragic all around.

  • Marco Antonio Morales

    To lose your child in *any* circumstance is a crushing tragedy. I have no words to describe how I hope she survives the pain of her loss, from which she may never fully recover.

    Every parent will have a story of rescuing their child in the nick of time from one situation or another. No parent is infallible, and thankfully most times nothing happens or the situation is saved in time.

    But the hatred and scorn aimed at her throughout the comments section of the linked article paints a sad, sad picture of fellow human beings. This woman has just lost her child and instead of comfort or compassion, she is publicly lynched and humiliated in a time of desperate need. ‘It was her fault’ they chide.

    And *that* becomes my WTF moment.

    • John Vance

      I mostly agree, but there’s got to a threshold beyond which we cry, “negligence!” I haven’t been able to find enough information about the circumstances here to determine if that line was crossed, though. Innocent until proven guilty and all that jazz.

    • Rachael Hoffman-Dachelet

      I think people do this to save themselves from the fear of making a similarly horrible mistake.  If you can exaggerate how horrible her choice or thinking was, than you don’t have to be afraid to also do it.  I noticed the same thing in the comments about the woman who chose to leave her home in Brooklyn and her two young boys were washed from her car.  The truth is, everyone makes possibly fatal mistakes with their children, and luck sometimes prevents disaster.  I feel so sad for this mother, and for the zoo workers.  What a tragedy. 

  • oldtaku

    I feel sorry for the kid, since obviously at two years old this was not his fault. But there are fewer than 5000 of these wild dogs on the entire planet, and we just killed one of them for a stupid, stupid reason.

  • Kevin Pierce

    The dogs had quite a bit of time with the child.

  • peregrinus

    [This was in response to a comment that's now been removed - don't want anyone to get confused over the intent!]

    On reflection I’m left perplexed over what exactly a pack of wild dogs would do with a prone infant.  Checking on his heartbeat?  Wondering if he can talk African dog?  Seeing if he had a biscuit?

    It’s lovely of you to spare a thought for the child and the family.  Your heartwarming tangent on the story really made my day.  Reached right out to me, grasped me by the soul and shook me till I wept.

    Everyone’s a critic, right?  Please, do us a kindness, point us in the direction of your own journalistic excellence, and allow us to patiently assess and weigh the intricacy, delicacy and subtlety with which I am sure you approach your research and self-expression.

    I’d be a fool to think the above was anything more than the heated and fitful expectoration of an individual in a miserable self-contempting state; appalled at the misfortunes and daily sadness to which the human race is subject.

    A fool, I tell you.  A downright fool.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/24KPRMRCXSSQK53AQUUTQP2JTM Fritz The Cat

     but they didn’t eat him.

  • Kevin Pierce
  • http://www.eff.org/ deaduncledave

    Well said sir.

  • http://twitter.com/cjporkchop cjporkchop

    “That kid most likely died from a fall”

    Did you read the linked story?

    “The head of the Pittsburgh Zoo says a medical examiner has concluded that a toddler who fell into an African painted dog exhibit was killed by the animals, not by the fall.”