Posted on 11/04/2012 2:29:46 PM PST by EinNYC
A little boy was mauled to death today after falling into the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.
"The screams just kept coming and coming: 'Someone help. Someone has to do something,'" recounted Angela Cinti, 20, of Bethel Park, who was visiting the zoo today.
Zoo President and Chief Executive Officer Barbara Baker said the child, who was about 3 years old, was on an outing with his mother when he fell over a wooden railing and off of a mesh barrier where the painted dogs were on display. A zoo spokeswoman said the wooden railing is 4 feet in height and the lower mesh barrier is 14 feet above the open exhibit space.
A news release distributed by zoo officials said keepers cleared seven of the 11 dogs after the child fell into the exhibit. Though darts were shot into the exhibit in an effort to scare the dogs away from the child, the news release indicated that "unfortunately, the dogs were in pack mentality and not responding."
Pittsburgh police officers and keepers attempted to lure the dogs away but one "aggressive" dog was shot and killed by an officer.
The African painted dog exhibit debuted after the October 2009 birth of the pups. A surrogate mutt was drafted into service for the nine pups after their natural mother died of a ruptured uterus. In the spring of this year, nine of the 11 painted dogs escaped a section of their enclosure causing a brief shutdown of the zoo.
Ms. Baker said at that time on May 5 that the dogs got into a 1.5-acre "backup yard" not visible to the public, but the dogs were not out of their exhibit.
African painted dogs are an endangered species.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
It’s a foreshadowing of Weds Nov 7 2012.
And God, the Father who loves, where were You?
It is not always the zoo's fault. The visitors need to have some minimum common sense and responsibility. If they are going to lift up their child to get a better view, they better hold the child outside of the protective fence.
Waiting with open arms to welcome him home
Sounds like you want to blame evil on God. Where was the child’s mother?
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Every time someone calls 911 a "pit bull" gets its wings.
“And God, the Father who loves, where were You?”
The boy is in heaven, with Jesus and the Father... there is no better place.
Amen.
The same place He always is - everywhere.
when I got home I did an internet search about the ‘African painted dogs’ and mentioned to my hubby, that I thought that exhibit should not be...
endless to say it was my First visit and will be my last...there was nothing there that impressed me at all, I was very disappointed..and of course I was comparing it to the Cleveland Zoo and there was NO comparison..
and the zoo's entrance fees are totally ridiculous
Agreed. Amen!
Psalm 22
He’s always right there. Sounds like you had a loss that hurt you. I’ve had a couple of very bad things happen too.
Christ is never far away. Things don’t always work out the way we’d like them to in this life, but eternal life is the trade-off. God called this child home for some reason. It is not my place to question.
The same place He was when His only-begotten Son was nailed to a cross at Golgotha c. 33 AD.
He’s always right there. Sounds like you had a loss that hurt you. I’ve had a couple of very bad things happen too.
Christ is never far away. Things don’t always work out the way we’d like them to in this life, but eternal life is the trade-off. God called this child home for some reason. It is not my place to question.
He’s always right there. Sounds like you had a loss that hurt you. I’ve had a couple of very bad things happen too.
Christ is never far away. Things don’t always work out the way we’d like them to in this life, but eternal life is the trade-off. God called this child home for some reason. It is not my place to question.
Victor Frankl wrote a book entitled MANS SEARCH FOR MEANING. He was a Jewish Psychiatrist imprisoned in a Nazi death camp during World War Two. I don’t have his book here, but I believe he wrote of man’s three great fears.
1. Fear of being alone.
2. Fear of pain.
3. Fear of death.
I have been struck that he mentioned three fears. I am reminded of Paul when he writes of “Faith, Hope and Love (Charity)”. He lists three things. Do you see how Paul’s list matches up with and answers Frankl’s three fears? Read them both and think about them. You are not alone.
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