Mum of boy who fell into gorilla zoo enclosure blasts critics saying 'accidents happen'

mirror ^

[traumer]

The mother of the boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure has said that "accidents happen" on a Facebook post hitting out at critics.

The endangered animal was shot dead by zoo staff to protect the four-year-old after it began dragging him around.

Michelle Gregg has faced criticism for social media users and animal rights campaigners, who claim she should have been keeping a closer eye on her child.

Some animal lovers even suggested she should have been shot and killed instead of the gorilla Harambe.

Responding to the criticism on Facebook, she said: "I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today. What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one.

"For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him.

[RitaOK]

Hey, thank you. That is more than I knew.

Wow.

I have to wonder, what is the point or excuse for having such a toddler sized crawl space under a fence, over a gorilla pit?

Yikes! Law suit coming?

Just sayin’.

[miss marmelstein]

I feel bad they’re gonna get hit with a lawsuit. Stuff happens. I don’t blame anyone but that gorilla got pretty scary there.

For those that don’t know, there is another case of this up on You Tube. The other one does feature a WHITE kid who fell or jumped into a gorilla pit. He screamed like hell and the gorilla took off.

[Vermont Lt]

Yes. I understand that feeling.

[Albion Wilde]

[HotKat]

As a safety precaution the zoo should require leashes for children under the age of 7.

[Albion Wilde]

Some are saying the zoo is racist because the were protecting a white boy against a bla k gorilla.

See photo of child at post 104.

[AFret.]

Where was the Dad?...Oh, now that I see the photo, never mind..

[changeitback440]

look around..... age 27 is closer to reality

[raybbr]

“””I can’t believe the idiots who criticize the zoo for valuing a human life above a gorillas.”””

This is the second thread I’ve read about this. It appears that there are quite a free FReepers that feel the same way.

[Rusty0604]

Oops!

[Robert DeLong]

Would you feel the same if that were your child?

Unfortunate circumstances all the way around. How long would it have taken to obtain a tranquilizer solution? How long would it have taken for the gorilla to change moods to one of a violent nature? These are considerations that must be taken into account in split seconds worth of considerations.

[BruceS]

I don’t know about toenail clipping of poodles, but that stupid haircut they give poodles should be considered cruelty to animals.

[jpsb]

F the gorilla.

FUTC

[miss marmelstein]

True, they look so much better unclipped. That seems to be in fashion these days.

[EandH Dad]

The zoo staff had a split second to make a decision and they made the right one. Jack Hannah was on several morning shows and backed them up. He has a house about 3 miles from where the gorilla came from and said the animal was showing indications of elevated alarm. The pain from being darted would have had a high probability of setting him off and would have taken 5 or 10 minutes to affect him because they’re administered intra-muscularly. Even administered intravenously a dose high enough to stop him instantly would have likely killed him. I just hope it was a big bullet to the brain so he never knew what hit him. And it was a male gorilla.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Sorry, I was just being silly. Should have used /s.

[discostu]

I’m not buying there were no options. Just the time it took to get the gun and make the shot meant they had other options. Then of course there’s the fact that sometimes shots miss, if they’d just wounded the gorilla you wind up in the boat people are claiming a tranq would have put them in. Sorry, they had a choice, they chose poorly.

[familyop]

"It actually looked like the gorilla was trying to protect the kid. The idiots screaming from above surely contributed to its confusion and agitation. I still do not think every option was utilized, such as distracting it with food. This "mother" and her spawn should be permanently banned from the zoo. Let them become pariahs. Her parenting skills are apparently less than those of the gorillas.

The kid disobeyed the mother. The gorilla was confused by the strange simian in its environment. It did not immediately rend the kid limb from limb, but appeared to protect it. This is a colossal shame and disgrace. A beautiful and endangered creature minding its own business killed because of a careless mother and frankly stupid kid.

Flame away, I could not give a hang."

No flames from me, but I will sometimes analyze arguments from a moral point of view in order to see a situation from a different perspective than those behind most popular comments. Many people who are morally pious are beginning to wander too far, some even to the extent of using false or irrelevant accusations to shut down meat production plants and institutionalize good moral leaders. Some ancient civilizations made the same mistake.

Part of the reason for our isolation from physical realities might be our more common isolation from agriculture and animals. It's true that we should not consume the flesh of an animal that's still alive. It's a prohibition against a practice of an evil, pre-ancient society and might possibly be a prohibition against becoming generally more cruel.

Remember, though, that a cat, for example, has the spirit of a cat--very different from that of a human being. We are permitted to make uses of animals that involve killing them while not being permitted to allow any animal that kills a human being to go on living.

Yes, we are different. But I'm not Esav.

The gorilla was more likely coveting the child instead of protecting him, in my opinion. If my working dog catches a prairie dog, I do not try to snatch the prairie dog from him in a direct confrontation, and gorillas are much more dangerous.

And I do clean up after handling the dog in any circumstance. Also in my opinion, the child being discussed should not be described as a "simian" (even in metaphor) in the contexts of an animal worshiping discussion.

As told by prophets, many in every nation (no exceptions there) are beginning to be turned. For each of us, which of the two sides will we be on?

[Sam Gamgee]

I wasn’t there. Do we have footage of what happened? I am a little sick of this high and mighty criticism of the mother. I am a parent and I’m not perfect either. Sometimes I lose track of my kids. Yes, at a zoo I would be a lot more cautious but I have never been to a zoo where it would have even been even 1% of a chance of a child getting into any enclosure. They make zoos pretty stupid proof these days. So I can’t imagine how it was even possible at this zoo.

[muggs]

I agree completely.

I wonder if any people are parents. Any parent would want their child protected and would be grateful to the zoo for what they did.