Fantastic parents at the MN Zoo!

[Rizzabella]

This makes my blood boil. I don't think it's been posted yet but if it has been I apologise.

Zoo meerkats test negative for rabies
Five of the popular animals euthanized after girl, 9, is bitten
BY MEGGEN LINDSAY
Pioneer Press
Public condolences poured into the Minnesota Zoo on Friday, as zoo visitors and staff mourned the deaths of an entire meerkat family.

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.

"This is a hard day. This was frustrating, sad and totally avoidable," said Tony Fisher, zoo collections manager. "People need to respect the barriers we put up to keep the public back. Instead, they try to climb over them, under them and around them."

The five meerkats were euthanized Thursday, a day after a 9-year-old girl reached her hand into the exhibit and was 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 meerkats did not have rabies, tests done at the Minnesota Board of Animal Health showed Friday.

"Although we knew there was just a minute chance they had rabies, we had no choice in this," Fisher said. "Of course, the public's safety comes first."

Well-wishers called the zoo all day, and the zoo's e-mail inboxes were filled to capacity with mostly sympathetic words, spokeswoman Kelly Lessard said.

The meerkats' deaths marks the first time an animal bit a guest and was put down at the zoo, Fisher said. Zookeepers have been bitten before, but always underwent the rabies shots.

Meerkats have been on display at the zoo since 2001 and are one of its more popular attractions. The animals, made famous in Disney's "The Lion King" movie, are 12-inch tall members of the mongoose family. They live in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa, dwelling in elaborate underground tunnel systems.

"They are active, curious creatures. They live as a family unit," Fisher said.

Although not typically aggressive, they bite if they feel threatened. Keepers use gloves when handling them.

"We display exotic, dangerous species here at the zoo," Fisher said. "That's the business we are in."

Mary Wahl of New Brighton and her multitude of daycare charges headed straight for the meerkat exhibit Friday afternoon, only to find it barren.

"It's really too bad," Wahl said. "We love seeing them every year. They are so little and active."

She said the outdoor exhibit looked perfectly safe. "Parents need to watch their kids better," Wahl said. "And a 9-year-old really should know better."

But Eden Prairie mom Liz Schewe said she wasn't surprised the exhibit's barriers were bridged. She called herself an "overprotective mom" but said she has wondered about the exhibit's safety.

"It's definitely given me pause in the past," Schewe said. "My 4-year-old is a monkey, and he could probably climb right over."

The girl had to work to get her hand inside the enclosure. Zoo officials said she must have crawled over a driftwood barrier, climbed up more than 3 feet of artificial rock and reached over 4 feet of Plexiglas to get her arm into the exhibit.

Because meerkats stand just a foot tall on their hind legs, she had to have dangled her hand low for an animal to bite her finger, they said.

"The barriers seemed fairly obvious to us and we've gone five years where nothing happened," zoo communications director Sue Gergen said. "But kids are braver and the animals are cute."

The exhibit will be closed for at least a week, while additional barrier measures are added. Zoo staff was already working on the modifications Friday.

A second group of four male meerkats will be moved from an adjacent indoor exhibit to the outdoor one when the adjustments are complete.

The zoo hopes to bring in a female next year to restart the breeding process.

"We'll be starting over to get a new family group," Fisher said.


I just love it. Their NINE YEAR OLD kid climbs over some serious barriers to go after an animal and another parent is given pause by the safety of the exhibit. And because they didn't want to give the kid shots, the meercats all had to be put down. I realize they're painful shots but it just makes me really, really mad that the animals are being punished by the fact that a kid didn't recognize boundaries and parents weren't being careful and watching their kid. The zoo isn't a place where you just let your kids run around doing whatever the hell they want! Frankly I'm half surprised the parents aren't trying to sue the zoo for emotional damages too.

[Wen]

Frankly I'm half surprised the parents aren't trying to sue the zoo for emotional damages too.

That's probably their next step. But i'm mainly concerned by the fact that the parents were nowhere in sight to supervise the kid... she can't have been THAT quick to get over all the security barrier. I remember that when I accompanied my niece with her school to their trip to the zoo, I had to be always on alert since that kid was always running around trying to get closer to the animals. But then that's what all kids do, and parents should expect that.

If that kid had been with a nanny, all the blame would have been on her, but since it was the parents being careless, hey... let's kill the animals instead.

[Rizzabella]

That's probably their next step. But i'm mainly concerned by the fact that the parents were nowhere in sight to supervise the kid... she can't have been THAT quick to get over all the security barrier. I remember that when I accompanied my niece with her school to their trip to the zoo, I had to be always on alert since that kid was always running around trying to get closer to the animals. But then that's what all kids do, and parents should expect that.
I read a comment by someone who has actually been to that zoo and remembers the meercat exhibit; they said that it really isn't easy to get all the way over there and would take some time. If we're talking about a two second deal where a kid just reaches over a fence that happens, but the parents had to have had their back turned for some time for a kid to have gotten that far. You're right, all kids want to pet animals--- especially cutesy ones. I used to work at a farm petting zoo type place and I learned that kids will try to pet even the ugly ones but they're just not careful. When I ran the duckling/baby chick hatchery we'd have a couple chick casualties a week because I only have one set of eyes and the second my back was turned kids would be squeezing, throwing, dropping birds because they wanted to pet them but had problems soon after. This is why my parents kept a very close watch on me when we went to zoos. :(

[madworld]

[bang] [post40] [post13] You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. Stupid bratty ass children. They really put the meerkats down?! It was the child's fault! I wouldn't allow that to happen if I was the parent. I'd know my kid shouldn't have put her hand through the bars and pestered the animals. Common sense, you dumb fucks!

[Paul]

Parents should be receiving a hefty bill for vets fees pretty soon I should think. But back in the real world...

[tully]

They really put the meerkats down?! It was the child's fault!

They didn't put the meerkats down because they bit the child. They put them down because vets can only test for rabies on dead animals. It's SOP; the real issue here is the idiot parents who let their child climb over hell and high water to disturb the animals. I bet they even took pictures of her doing it. (I totally made that up.)

[Amy!]

I would think that painful shots would be a pretty good lesson against being an asshole. I wonder what they would have done if it was a panda that bit her?

[haunted]

for fucks sake. this is just SAD. questioning the safety of an exhibit because you're too much of a dumbass to keep your child from climbing over extensive barriers deserves a "moron" stamp. on the forehead.

those poor, poor animals.

[RedHead]

I would think that painful shots would be a pretty good lesson against being an asshole. I wonder what they would have done if it was a panda that bit her?

That's exactly what I was coming in here to write. If it were my kid I would make her get the rabies shot, not matter how many installments or how painful it was as a lesson that she should follow the rules. The animal did not bite her unprovoked....she dangled her arm into a wild animal's cage!

Then I would tell the kid that the cost of the shot would be deducted from the amount of money that would be spent on her Christmas/Birthday presents!

[jeth]

^ You're evil. But I like it!

I am sad that people would let an entire family of innocent animals be put down because their failure to keep an eye on their kid led to her getting bit. I don't care how painful rabies shots are - if you were stupid and got bit as a result you deserve the shots. Period.

[Rinky vs.4.0]

I imagine they're the kind of family where they don't teach the youngsters how to handle animals properly, then blame the family cat or dog and have them put down or thrown out when they get fed up of having their tails pulled and scratch or snap at the brat. Then they go get another animal to replace the 'evil' one who 'threatened' their fucking useless spawn.

Anyway, there's a video going around of the incident, apparently. By all accounts the enclosure is really quite hard to get into and the parents simply stood there and let L'il Shitney climb up and only started caterwauling when the stupid girl got chewed upon.

In a perfect world, like Paul said, the parents should be billed for all vet costs plus replacements for the family of meercats they had to destroy. They would also be banned from all zoos for the rest of their stupid existences. In my perfect world, the kid would be OBLIGED to have the rabies shot seeing as she brought the bite entirely upon herself by scaling a wall in order to touch animals she shouldn't. Tough shit if it's uncomfortable. Perhaps a little bit more discomfort will teach her not the touch what she shouldn't and to leave wild animals the fuck alone. The parents should have exerted enough control oiver the kid to avert the incident in the first place, and the kid at age nine should be smart anough to figure out enclosures and 'do not touch the animals' signs apply to her.

It also occurs to me that rabies being a disgusting way to die, the parents would want that shot given instantly just to be sure. if that was someone in my family I would want them to get a shot ASAP if there was aremote possibility of rabies infection. Perhaps, in addition to being useless bastards, they're of the moronic anti-vax persuasion too.

[RedHead]

So, you know what? I recently read on CNN that some girlscouts who had been at a camp together were all at risk of having rabies because bats were sleeping in the eaves of the cabins and there were no screens on the windows, etc. Apparently, a counselor also caught a bat and som eof the girls touched it. The parents were all notified, and the camp offered to pay for rabies shots for like 300 girls or something, and most of them declined it!! Who is that stupid?

[Amy!]

It would have had to bite them right? I wouldn't worry too much unless I had a couple of unexplained puncture wounds.

[SMMY]

They put down the wrong species.

[Rizzabella]

Anyway, there's a video going around of the incident, apparently. By all accounts the enclosure is really quite hard to get into and the parents simply stood there and let L'il Shitney climb up and only started caterwauling when the stupid girl got chewed upon.
This is why I just DON'T want to have to deal with kids. If I had them you can be darn sure I wouldn't behave that way but agh. Hearing about this just makes me dislike kids in general even more. Maybe the parents just thought it was really cute that their baby was climbing all over the place so they didn't do a thing to stop it! :r

[toriwannabe]

Frankly I'm half surprised the parents aren't trying to sue the zoo for emotional damages too

The zoo staff should sue the PARENTS for the emotional damage caused, having to put down the family of meerkats. I would be so distraught if I was an animal attendant.

[jeth]

I think you would have to be bit by the bat to contract rabies, but still. What if one of the kids had been bit during the impromptu petting zoo? The counselor used very poor judgement.

[RedHead]

It would have had to bite them right? I wouldn't worry too much unless I had a couple of unexplained puncture wounds.

Yes, but the article said that bats can bite children without waking them and the girls might not necessarily notice the small bite mark if they're at camp where they might already be scraped up and bruised from doing sports, hiking, etc.

[Rinky vs.4.0]

This is why I just DON'T want to have to deal with kids. If I had them you can be darn sure I wouldn't behave that way but agh. Hearing about this just makes me dislike kids in general even more. Maybe the parents just thought it was really cute that their baby was climbing all over the place so they didn't do a thing to stop it! :r

Probably. Or they didn't want to restrain them for fear of 'crushing their adventurous spirirt' or some such nonsense. Most likely though, the parents are just fucking morons.

It really fucking pisses me off when parents fail to control a single solitary child in public. It's not that hard. And before any parent pops in to tell me I don't know because I haven't tried, I have. I've taken flipping great groups of kids outside on trips in fucking great cities and managed to bring them all back safe and sound and without incident. If you can't sort out ONE child that actually belongs to you, I think you should have your parenting licence revoked.

[Amy!]

Well now, you know you haven't dealt with MY child. The one that's on 84 medications for being unbearable but I still insist on taking it to movies after 10 and the grocery store at rush hour and fancy restaurants when it hasn't had a nap (in three days)! Why should I have to suffer alone? Don't you like hearing beep beep gameboy noises everywhere you go? What's wrong with you!? Just a minute I've got to shove my tit into the mouth of it's sibling. What do you mean I shouldn't have had more if I couldn't control the other one? IT"S MY RIGHT! Sheboygan! BEHAVE! Can't you see that mommy is trying to explain to this lady that hates babies about how angels are trying to get to earth and everybody needs to have babies so the angels don't die? I know honey, it is sad. Poor dead baby angels. QUIT HITTING YOUR SISTER. No, baby, you're too big to sit on mommy's lap. Well, all right. You know I never thought I would be nursing two in school but it does comfort them before they go to karate. And gymnastics and they each have a playdate tomorrow and swimming lessons after. It does get expensive but look at my new sweatpants, aren't they cute?

;)

[Rinky vs.4.0]

The other day I saw a mother with two kids - a three-four year old boy and an older boy, maybe about ten years old, where the ten year-old had more control over the little one than the mother. The little kid was running up to windows of houses along the path we were walking along and trying to climb inside, and the mother just whined ineffectively at him in weedy voice, "Don't do thaaaaaaaaat." You could see she'd never enforced a boundary in her goddamn life with the kid, as he absolutely ignored her.

The older boy was wearing this expression on his face, like, 'I've seen this all before. Mum, you're useless, right?" throughout this performance, and eventually raised his voice into a commanding tone with the kid, ordered him to come back IMMEDIATELY or else, and the kid did so without complaint or fuss. It was just a stunning demonstration that usually it ain't the kid, it's the parent.

Oh and shortly after this the little kid tried to run into the path of a car. It was the older boy who yelled at him and went to restrain him, not the mother. She STILL didn't bother to hold the kid's hand when the older boy brought him back. You know, this stuff isn't special parenting knowledge, it's BASIC FUCKING COMMON SENSE that most people have from childhood themselves.

[Kari]

Well now, you know you haven't dealt with MY child. The one that's on 84 medications for being unbearable but I still insist on taking it to movies after 10 and the grocery store at rush hour and fancy restaurants when it hasn't had a nap (in three days)! Why should I have to suffer alone? Don't you like hearing beep beep gameboy noises everywhere you go? What's wrong with you!? Just a minute I've got to shove my tit into the mouth of it's sibling. What do you mean I shouldn't have had more if I couldn't control the other one? IT"S MY RIGHT! Sheboygan! BEHAVE! Can't you see that mommy is trying to explain to this lady that hates babies about how angels are trying to get to earth and everybody needs to have babies so the angels don't die? I know honey, it is sad. Poor dead baby angels. QUIT HITTING YOUR SISTER. No, baby, you're too big to sit on mommy's lap. Well, all right. You know I never thought I would be nursing two in school but it does comfort them before they go to karate. And gymnastics and they each have a playdate tomorrow and swimming lessons after. It does get expensive but look at my new sweatpants, aren't they cute?

;)

alsdfjklasjkljfas

Post of the Week!!

[Rizzabella]

And before any parent pops in to tell me I don't know because I haven't tried, I have. I've taken flipping great groups of kids outside on trips in fucking great cities and managed to bring them all back safe and sound and without incident.
Haha, I have experience with child-wrangling too AND I have plenty of experience handling my brother, who is autistic. If I managed to keep an autistic boy under control in public then I think I'm qualified to judge the behavior of parents with a lone child. :) That's why I've gotten a kick out of parents who have said that to me in the past. They can spend a couple hours with my brother and see how they handle that situation. My mother jokes that I practically raised the kid; he fears me more than he fears both of my parents.

Oh and shortly after this the little kid tried to run into the path of a car. It was the older boy who yelled at him and went to restrain him, not the mother. She STILL didn't bother to hold the kid's hand when the older boy brought him back. You know, this stuff isn't special parenting knowledge, it's BASIC FUCKING COMMON SENSE that most people have from childhood themselves.
[bang] If I saw that I probably would have decided to pipe up about it though I typically don't like to stir anything up by remarking on exceedingly bad parenting. But when you're so damn stupid that you stand there when your kid just about kills himself, something is just a TINY bit off.

[madworld]

They put down the wrong species.


Bwhahahahhahahh! [post75] I love you. And your post pretty much sums up why I am on birth control.

[half1113]

Well now, you know you haven't dealt with MY child. The one that's on 84 medications for being unbearable but I still insist on taking it to movies after 10 and the grocery store at rush hour and fancy restaurants when it hasn't had a nap (in three days)! Why should I have to suffer alone? Don't you like hearing beep beep gameboy noises everywhere you go? What's wrong with you!? Just a minute I've got to shove my tit into the mouth of it's sibling. What do you mean I shouldn't have had more if I couldn't control the other one? IT"S MY RIGHT! Sheboygan! BEHAVE! Can't you see that mommy is trying to explain to this lady that hates babies about how angels are trying to get to earth and everybody needs to have babies so the angels don't die? I know honey, it is sad. Poor dead baby angels. QUIT HITTING YOUR SISTER. No, baby, you're too big to sit on mommy's lap. Well, all right. You know I never thought I would be nursing two in school but it does comfort them before they go to karate. And gymnastics and they each have a playdate tomorrow and swimming lessons after. It does get expensive but look at my new sweatpants, aren't they cute?
;)

84 medications for being unbearable BECAUSE I DIDN'T TEACH MY CHILD HOW TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS. I DIDN'T TEACH THEM HOW TO LISTEN.

I have ADD in my family. Looking back at my childhood, my grandfather was the poster man for adult ADD. There's a difference between ADD and bad parenting results.
I was always tempted to reach over the fence at the zoo, but [jesus] I knew it was bad. Plus my Dad or Mom would have punished me like there was no tomorrow.

[Fluffy]

The parents should have been fed to the lions.