Boy scales fence, puts fingers in fence, BEAR bites kid,bearS put to sleep

[underpants]

This is sad. As heart wrenching as this is calm professional cooler heads prevailed here.

That being said-I think they ought to euthenize the kid.

Park's 2 bears killed after bite
Boy, 4, scaled fence at park; Officials cite public-health risk



http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137834300457


Maymont employees are mourning the death of the park's two black bears, destroyed yesterday after one of them bit a 4-year-old boy last weekend.
Both bears, ages 12 and 9, were euthanized because it was not known which one bit the boy, Maymont officials said. The child and at least one parent were apparently at the rear of the 2-acre bear exhibit Saturday when the child climbed a 4-foot wooden fence into a restricted area and approached the 10-foot chain-link fence that surrounds the bears.

"The child may have been eating an apple or had apple on his hands," said Julia Dixon, spokeswoman for Game and Inland Fisheries. The child put his hand through the fence and was bitten.

Hours later, the child was treated and released from Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital, where doctors administered antibiotics. No stitches were required.

[hippiechick]

1. Stupid child should have been put to sleep.

Sounds like a little George Bush on his way up, eh? :mad:

[WI_DEM]

49. rather stupid parents/guardian not supervising him

[hippiechick]

57. That too

:)

[jedicord]

2. Forgive the kid, he was only 4. Euthanize the parents.

Or the fool who decided that the bears had to be put down. Sheesh -- the kid didn't even need stitches!

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Perhaps they should file charges against the parents for

child endangerment or reckless negligence for allowing the child to climb the fence in the first place. If you read the entire story, it sounds as though sufficient barriers were placed between the bears and the public, but the parents were not providing enough supervision for the child.

[Midlodemocrat]

32. I'm with you, euthanize the parents.

What morans.

[underpants]

36. I totally missed this until I was headed to work

I was watching the Daily Show and Colbert this morning. I caught it on 88.9 and couldn't believe it when I heard it.

Those bears were awesome. Rolling around climbing trees mugging for photos. I haven't heard if anything was going to happen to the fox that lived in there.

Although everyone in Va. seems to be together on the fact that this was the way to handle it this really sucks. I agree about the parents but seriously if their name ever got out *whooooboy* would they get it from the whole city.

[Cobalt Violet]

4. "no stitches were required"?

And they killed 2 bears. :banghead:

I don't believe he was even bit by a bear at all.

[Richard Steele]

10. Bingo! They should change their story to "Boy LICKED by bear"!

If the kid didn't even need stitches, then the bear didn't bite him!
It's just that simple.

If a full-grown black bear actually BITES a 4yo's hand,
the 4yo loses his hand.

[Brewman_Jax]

5. That's terrible

should make the sorry parents pay for the zoo's time, trouble, and replacement of the bears. :grr:

[Pool Hall Ace]

61. Absolutely.

If parents were held responsible for their children's actions, maybe they would make an effort to supervise them properly.

And why did the mother wait several days before reporting the incident? :grr:

[n2doc]

6. 4 year olds don't put a lot of deep thought into things

The Parents should be punished, as well as the idiots at the park who decided to kill both bears. What's next, kill off the geese because they nip folks? I mean, there was a reason why there was a fence, folks!

[livvy]

7. Be sure to vote after reading the article.

This was inexcusable. Considering the fact that it was not a vicious attack, the child needed no stitches, and it was the parents fault for not monitoring their child well enough, they should have gone ahead and given the child the rabies treatment.
I know, this sounds terrible, but the treatment is no big deal. I was attacked by a wild cat once, and when we were unable to capture the not-so-friendly feline, I went through the treatment. It's just a series of shots that have no side effects.
What a waste of two perfectly proper bears.

[lukasahero]

46. Thanks for the heads up - done! eom

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Hope the zoo files a lawsuit against the parents.. Why do the poor

animals have to pay with their lives for stupid neglect by parents?

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. I wonder why they couldn't relocate the bears.

Or just put up better fencing.

If I was the parent I wouldn't want the animals put down. I would be going after the park to get the enclosure fixed so that it was kid proof.

I remember once many years ago when some kids managed to get inside the polar bear cage - in NY Zoo, I think - and the bears actually ate them.

Why is it so hard to put up kid and people proof fencing - taking human stupidity into consideration, or course.

[livvy]

11. It had to do with the possibility that the bear had rabies.

Ridiculous, I know, but that was the deal. It's in the article. Should have given the kid the shots. It would have saved the bears, and caused no problem for the kid, other than the discomfort of having a few shots.

[underpants]

12. From this article and they media coverage around here

the consensus seems to be that there is no way of knowing if the bears had rabies and if they got rabies they could be too out of control to handle....that last part makes no sense to me but that is what they were saying.

I have been there. The wooden fence isn't very much but it is clear that you are not supposed to go past it. They edge of the cage is about 15 feet from the sidewalk. That being said I would hope that I would have control of my kid enough not to let them get that close. It is a bear and a simple chainlink fence.

This is very sad.

[blindpig]

25. Out of control?

Any decent zoo should have a vet available who is equipped with a dart gun. They should also have a squeeze cage around for manipulating potentially dangerous critters. As a former zookeeper I find this result unnecessary. Where I worked there was a 3' wrought iron fence and a 5' space separating the cage(iron bars and chain link) from the public. Never had such a thing happen, though we did find a corpse in with the polar bears.

Those parents should be charged. They should also be sterilized, they are unfit.

I couldn't get the link to work.

[underpants]

28. The Times-Disgraces website is horrible

Try this it is the top story as you can imagine.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/

[blindpig]

33. Thanks, that worked.

I feel for those keepers. The link between a good keeper and their charges is very strong.

[Bridget Burke]

40. Failing tranquilizer darts--I know the Houston Zoo has a shooting team.

A zoo employee I knew was on the team because he was a good shot. Although he hadn't hunted since boyhood, he collected shotguns & went to target practice. The Team would only go into action in the direst situation--like a rhino on the loose. I don't think they've ever had to shoot an animal.

Some years ago, a tiger killed & partly ate a keeper. Nobody witnessed the event--but the keeper had never had any previous trouble with the tiger. The tiger was not executed--hey, he was already serving a Life Sentence with No Parole. He later developed cancer and was put down.

[underpants]

44. Maymont isn't a zoo in the traditional sense

http://www.maymont.org/

More a petting zoo with the bears some bison and the big bird cage thingy. They have a learning center too.

[mtnsnake]

13. How the hell does a parent let a 4 yr old climb that fence?

As someone who's raised kids ourselves, my wife and I simply have no respect or pity for parents who are this out of touch with the environment. It's inconsideration at its worst.

I hate the kid, and I hate both parents for raising the little brat that way. I hope to fuck the little brat is affected for life by the incident, but he'll probably follow this up by blowing up frogs with firecrackers and becoming president someday.

[theHandpuppet]

14. Those parents should be ashamed

They should also be made to pay any costs of replacing the bears that were killed due to their negligence!!!

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissB]

16. Because we expect wild animals

to behave that way. We apparently expect wild *caged* animals to behave differently.

[mtnsnake]

19. Treadwell was an environmentalist unlike this dumb kid & his idiot parents

Sure, the Treadwell incident was sad for everyone involved, but what's with your fucking rap on "the extreme left eco, animal groups"?

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MissB]

42. I must've missed all those publications.

None of the animal rights groups that I belong to mentioned his name in the past 5 years. I don't see where he was looked at as a "hero, saviour" within those groups.

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. What are you talking about?

I don't get your point. Treadwell was never condemned? What, Greenpeace applauded him? World Wildlife Federation threw him a celebratory dinner and gave him a medal? What the hell are you talking about.

As far as I am concerned, any time that an animal "has" to be killed because of human action is a tragedy that needs to be condemned.

:shrug:

:wtf:

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lectrobyte]

17. Anyone got Colbert's email? He'd probably put this on his show.

[Mika]

18. Perfect metaphor for BushCo foreign relations. n/t

[The Stranger]

20. Human imbeciles go out of their way to fuck up -- and bears have to die.

Fucking brilliant.

And, sorry, but the notion that the bears had to suddenly be destroyed because their was a question as to whether they had rabies (AND THAT BOTH HAD TO BE DESTROYED) does not suddenly arise when someone let's their child stick their hand in the cage.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

God damn, this makes me angry.

[underpants]

23. Let me say this about the fencing at Maymont

First off Maymont is right in the middle of the city (on the river). Beautiful place with lots of educational stuff for kids. Great place a huge asset to the City of Richmond.

The fencing at this cage is not great. In fact the fact that it is chainlink fencing should make you more likely to stay away from it. Where this kid probably did this is at a low area near the canal running from the river. There is only a short 3 foot high wooden fence...maybe 4 feet...and then the chainlink fence. The chainlink fence is at most 8 feet from the sidewalk.

This isn't meant as an excuse for the kid or the parent just letting you know the setting. There is no way I would let a child ( or myself) get that close. Hell I have often wondered what would happen should the bears decide they really want to come out of the fence but then they probalby don't as they HAD it really good. There was a fox that stayed in that area too.

[GreenPartyVoter]

58. They are black bears. Here in Maine we are advised to run yelling at the

wild ones to shoo them out of our yards. No foolin'.

Do NOT try that with any other species of bear, though. I hear Grizzlies, Kodiaks, and Polars aren't as sweet or timid as black bears are.

[gatorboy]

21. Colbert will be thrilled!

EOM

[Double T]

22. Why would the government destroy the bears?

The bears are wild animals housed in a restricted area that was breached by a kid whose parents should be brought up on negligence charges. If the bears were rabid (what a bunch of BS), they were already quarantined in their restricted, isolated area where they could have been observed and possibly treated. It appears the kid was not seriously injured, so why the hell destroy the bears? This is another perfect example of the government overreacting to a situation that was not that serious. IDIOTS!!!!

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. We had something similar happen with a dog

Our dog was in our yard, behind our fence. The little brat across the street came into our yard, teased the dog and got bit.

The city made us get rid of the dog.

I wanted to charge the kid with tresspassing. But the cops said 'sorry, ma'am, but we can't charge a 4 year old with that crime'.

We let the kid's parents take us to court. We figured no way would the judge even fine us, the kid came into our yard without permission. The kid's mom lied and said the dog had growled at her kid many many times.

The judge said if we really didn't want anyone coming in our yard we should have put a lock on the fence.

Happened 20 years ago and still pisses me off.

[leesa]

27. At least the bears aren't prisoners anymore.

[The Stranger]

29. But now they are dead.

[DemonGoddess]

30. what gets me is that the article

states at least one of the kid's parents was WITH him when he climbed the fence. They needed to charge the PARENTS. Also, isn't it a routine thing to administer rabies vaccines to captive animals in zoos?

[Beelzebud]

31. Where were the fucking parents? Do people watch their kids anymore?

[underpants]

34. Now you know there could be a good explanation here

they could have forgotten their leash.

God I hate seeing that. We are getting near that stage with our daughter-I will not do that I refuse.

[bleedingheart]

38. What is wrong with the parents?

4 year old kids aren't normally the best judges of a situation but the parents should be...

[Richard D]

39. Pretty friggin sad . . .

. . . but at least in this poll, the insane 30% seem to have some sense:

Current survey results for 1716 entries
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding


Do you think it was right to euthanize the bears?
Yes 42 2%
NO 1649 96%
Not sure 25 1%

[VaYallaDawg]

41. A very, very tragic story.

What a terrible loss for our city.

[underpants]

45. *** MAYMONT WEBSITE *****

http://www.maymont.org/

Yeah this is sad. I have been down by this area lots. I never even considered that anyone would let their kid get NEAR the fence.

Amazing.

[lukasahero]

43. A 4 year old kid scaled a 4 foot tall fence on his own? I call BS.

Euthenize the parents.

[underpants]

47. **************** UPDATE************** test results are in

NOT rabid

Just heard it on the radio

[blindpig]

48. Imagine that.

Pisses me off. I suppose it was unavoidable but pre-emptive rabies treatment for the child would have been the just thing to do.

[underpants]

50. Something just hit me-as noted above there were no stitches needed

to me at first that just seemed to show how frivolous this is...then it hit me when I was talking to my wife about this---------how do we know the kid actually got bit? Is someone just going after a lawsuit?

[SoCalDem]

52. When I was 5 years old, one of these grabbed my ponytail

and pulled my head to the bars of his cage.. I had nightmares about this thing for ages. It took two workers with broom handles to get him to let go of my hair.. they were considering cuttiing my hair, but my mother freaked out :eyes:

I'm sure that my blonde hair interested him and the cage was not adequate, and was too close to where people could go, but no one sued and thankfully no one panicked...and no one hurt him..

As a grown up, I think they are magnificent creatures, but when he lifted me off the ground by my hair, I was a bit scared, to say the least..

[blindpig]

54. You were one lucky puppy.

I've seen the damage a Mandrill can do, not pretty!

[blindpig]

55. If that were to be the case...

all I know is if I were one of the keepers things might get out of hand. :grr:

[leftchick]

51. Sterilize the Parents!

This is just horrible. :(

[noonwitch]

53. The right to arm bears!

Those poor bears need to protect themselves from neglectful parents of 4 year olds!

[java-fiend]

63. I knew that was coming...

[petronius]

56. This doesn't make any sense to me

Another option would have been to administer the rabies treatment to the child.

"Whether the child received treatment or not, we felt from a public-health standpoint we had to know whether either bear had rabies," said Shannon Nicole Marshall, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health. "Our ultimate responsibility is to protect public health."

If it was possible to administer the rabies treatment to the child, then there was no need for immediate knowledge of whether the bears had rabies. Even if the incubation period for bears is uncertain, quarantine and observation would have eventually provided the information.

Also, it really wouldn't matter if the bears were rabid or not if people would stay away from them.

It seems to me that the logical course of action would have been:

1. Give the child the rabies treatment
   
2. Quarantine the bears for a reasonable time to determine if they were rabid
   
3. Increase the separation between zoo-goers and the enclosure
   
4. Sue the parents for all expenses related to their negligence
   
5. Ban this family from the property
   

[livvy]

59. I heartily agree. You have come up with a reasonable solution that....

should have satisfied everyone. Rabies shots are no big deal. In fact, the shots are a very pretty pink color, if I recall correctly. Hell, they could have told the kid, they were giving him a shot of bubble gum. I suffered no side effects. Going to get the shots was a minor inconvenience, but that was it. Covered by insurance also. There was absolutely no reason to put the bears down.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

[Canuckistanian]

60. The child's parents should be sued

To recover the cost of the bears.

[stepnw1f]

62. Boy Sound Like a Bush

except of course, the bear being a metaphor for Iraq.

[Catchawave]

64. Sent to Olbermann...

Worst Person in the World suggestion....parents? park workers?

[uppityperson]

65. Don't kill anyone people, be kind

Build a better fence or send the bears somewhere where they won't be able to have kids get at them

[Booster]

66. These stupid parents should have insisted that these 2 bears

NOT BE PUT TO SLEEP, since the bears apparently didn't even hurt the boy and it was their fault for not watching him more closely. Stories like this make my blood boil. This happens all the time out here in CA. If someone even sees a wild animal, the authorities HAVE to hunt it down and kill it. If there is a God, he must shake his head when this kind of shit happens.

[sproutster]

67. Please - you cannot keep a bear that has tasted human.

[Batgirl]

68. that's not why they killed the bears

They didn't destroy the bears because they "tasted human." They killed them in order to find out if they were carrying the rabies virus. (Since the bears were in a cage don't ask me how they would have contracted rabies in the first place. Maybe if an infected bat flew in there and bit one of the bears, thinking it was a moth or mosquito?)

Apparently, examining the brain is the only way to tell if the animal has been infected. You obviously can't examine the brain unless the animal is dead.

Only a moron would allow their kid to climb the fence and stick his hand in the cage -- the equivalent of letting him dangle over the precipice of Niagra Falls to splash his hand in the water. If I'd ever endangered my child like that the last thing I'd want would be to draw national attention to my behavior by having the bears killed to spare junior a relatively minor consequence: getting his rabies shots. I would at least have the sense to slink quietly away and contemplate what an ass I was.