Zoo meerkats test negative for rabies

Saint Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 8/5/06 | "Meggan Lindsey"

[evets]

Sheesh... no more 'Hakuna Matata' for those guys.

[chichilarue]

This is also the same reasoning used in date "rape." Feminazis would like to use the same logic to have men castrated because they might or might not "bite." The culture of euthanasia and painlessness at work...

[Doogle]

"..well ya see it's this way Mikey, if humans break regulations, and adult humans do watch their little ones like I watch you, bad bad things can happen"

Doogle

[Lunatic Fringe]

"Kids raced to the outdoor exhibit in Apple Valley and plastered their hands against the glass, only to find nothing inside. A small boy in a stroller wailed as his mother told him the creatures were away on vacation."

WTF???

[Onelifetogive]

Some animals are "more equal" than others. Millions of chickens are slaughtered everyday because people like the taste. What makes a meerkat more deserving of life than a chicken?

I think "humanizing" animals actually just reduces the value of human life......

[Publius6961]

I'm speechless, but not surprised.

The headline says it all, for me.

[Gator101]

Stupid idiot moronic parents!

I have little doubt that they have no concept of disciplining their child. I bet she does whatever she wants and mom and dad have no control. They might try to yell but there is probably never any consequences. Now, when this happens they are quick to blame the zoo and not acknowledge their own failures as parents. "Uh, yeah...you better euthanize those animals because it's not our little princess' fault" IDIOTS!!!

Sorry for the rant. I just hate parents like this.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Many years ago, rabies shots were a big painful deal. That hasn't been true for a long time. I had them 15 years ago, after being attacked by a stray tomcat whose behavior was bizarre enough to suggest that he might well be rabid. 6 shots, each a week or two apart. No big deal.

[CholeraJoe]

If meercats have souls, God should station these at the rainbow bridge into heaven to welcome the souls of good little children and aborted unborns.

[Publius6961]

"nooooooooooooooo, not meerkats!!!!!!"

My condolences...

Is the cute critter warming himslf in front of a heatlamp and shown during the Freepathon a meercat?

[twigs]

My step-son is a zoo keeper. He tells me of watching parents put their children on top of fences separating the public from large, wild animals. And telling their children to ignore the zoo keepers. He lost of lot of respect for parents--at least some--after he started working in a zoo.

[GovernmentShrinker]

How would you suggest that the mother of a stroller-aged child explain to the tot that the sute critters he'd been so eagerly anticipating seeing had been killed for no good reason, on account of the stupidity of a 9-year-old brat and her even stupider parents?

[Lazamataz]

The five meerkats were euthanized Thursday, a day after a 9-year-old girl reached her hand into the exhibit and w as bitten. The meerkats — two adults and their three babies born in spring — were vaccinated for rabies, but state health protocol required that they be killed and tested because the girl's parents didn't want her to undergo a series of six painful rabies shots.

The girl's parents should have been given this choice, instead:

Either shots for the girl, or we euthanize YOUR entire family.

[Publius6961]

These are the vicious animals in question - I can see why a child would want to pet them

Works well, even with strange dogs...
< /sarc >

Idiot parents, pure and simple.

[IronJack]

If it hadn't been for the Lion King, none of these people would even know what a meerkat is. They're basically weasels with a good press agent.

[gondramB]

>>Idiot parents, pure and simple.<<

You would think "don't go into the cages and touch the animals" would be a basic zoo lesson for parents to teach.

[Lazamataz]

I go into department stores and see kids climbing up the wrong way on escalators. My first question is where are the parents.

Usually, the parents are on the next floor up, climbing DOWN the wrong way om the escalators.

[Lazamataz]

They're basically weasels with a good press agent.

A good agent can make or break an animal's career.

[HangnJudge]

[Question_Assumptions]

In Las Vegas, I watched a mother pick up her kid and dangle them over a fish tank so they could put their hands in the water. The fish in those tanks included piranha.

The reason why we have so many people that do and believe so many stupid things is because we've made the world so safe that people rarely die from stupid actions or beliefs. It creates a real detachment from reality and an infant-like mindset that mommy or daddy will always keep people safe.