two year old boy mauled to death at Pgh zoo..

[Fresno Bob]

I'm pretty sure my wife would be beating me into the pit if one of our kids dropped in

[madducks]

wow, I mean, just wow, how do you not jump down there, if not as soon as your kid falls, then once the dogs go after him

I don't understand it either. Even if it was somebody else' kid that i didn't know, i couldn't just stand there and watch them be mauled. I would hate myself. Hopefully i wouldn't lose too much flesh off of my legs from the dog bites and could make the jump without breaking an ankle. But, that wouldn't matter compared to saving a kids life. They look like little dogs. I imagine an adult male could remain standing despite being bit on the legs and make his way to the nearest exit. Perhaps even fend some of the dogs off with a belt with the free hand while carrying a kid over the shoulder with the other hand. Maybe i'm wrong, but i would have to give it a shot. Even if i was unsuccessful saving the kid, at least i would know that i tried. Of course, the chances for success would be greater if more than one adult jumped into the pen.

[Mithrandir]

I don't understand it either. Even if it was somebody else' kid that i didn't know, i couldn't just stand there and watch them be mauled. I would hate myself. Hopefully i wouldn't lose too much flesh off of my legs from the dog bites and could make the jump without breaking an ankle. But, that wouldn't matter compared to saving a kids life. They look like little dogs. I imagine an adult male could remain standing despite being bit on the legs and make his way to the nearest exit. Perhaps even fend some of the dogs off with a belt with the free hand while carrying a kid over the shoulder with the other hand. Maybe i'm wrong, but i would have to give it a shot. Even if i was unsuccessful saving the kid, at least i would know that i tried. Of course, the chances for success would be greater if more than one adult jumped into the pen.

I would never jump into that situation if it wasn't my child. If you go into that situation for another child, what if you die? Isn't your responsibility to your own family more important than TRYING to save someone else's child?

[Mithrandir]

I don't understand it either. Even if it was somebody else' kid that i didn't know, i couldn't just stand there and watch them be mauled. I would hate myself. Hopefully i wouldn't lose too much flesh off of my legs from the dog bites and could make the jump without breaking an ankle. But, that wouldn't matter compared to saving a kids life. They look like little dogs. I imagine an adult male could remain standing despite being bit on the legs and make his way to the nearest exit. Perhaps even fend some of the dogs off with a belt with the free hand while carrying a kid over the shoulder with the other hand. Maybe i'm wrong, but i would have to give it a shot. Even if i was unsuccessful saving the kid, at least i would know that i tried. Of course, the chances for success would be greater if more than one adult jumped into the pen.

The African wild dog has a bite force quotient (BFQ, the strength of bite relative to the animal's mass) measured at 142, the highest of any extant mammal of the order Carnivora, although exceeded by the Tasmanian devil, a marsupial carnivore.

Adults typically weigh 18–36 kilograms (40–79 lb)

Some packs also include large animals among their prey, including zebras, warthogs and humans.

You better be damn quick Madducks

[madducks]

The African wild dog has a bite force quotient (BFQ, the strength of bite relative to the animal's mass) measured at 142, the highest of any extant mammal of the order Carnivora, although exceeded by the Tasmanian devil, a marsupial carnivore.

Adults typically weigh 18–36 kilograms (40–79 lb)

Some packs also include large animals among their prey, including zebras, warthogs and humans.

You better be damn quick Madducks

They looked smaller in the Zoo video shown on the news, but those may have been pups. I never said the odds would be in my favor.

[TS Garp]

I am not happy that I laughed at this comment - but I did

I didn't take it as a joke -- I thought he was serious. I'm not in favor of zoos.

[Mithrandir]

I didn't take it as a joke -- I thought he was serious. I'm not in favor of zoos.

But isn't it really educational that people can see animals that they would never get to see if not in a zoo?

[Mithrandir]

They looked smaller in the Zoo video shown on the news, but those may have been pups. I never said the odds would be in my favor.

Ask your wife if she would be okay with you jumping into the wild dog exhibit to save some kid you don't know.

[heyelander]

I didn't take it as a joke -- I thought he was serious. I'm not in favor of zoos.

it was more of an ironic response to Eld's comment about not blaming the victims.

[joncarlos]

Ask your wife if she would be okay with you jumping into the wild dog exhibit to save some kid you don't know.

Ask your wife if she's be OK with some stranger jumping in to save your kid

[Mithrandir]

Ask your wife if she's be OK with some stranger jumping in to save your kid

I thought about that and figured someone would bring it up. Let's hope none of us ever face this situation. Would you jump in to save a stranger's kid? and possibly risk death?

[TS Garp]

But isn't it really educational that people can see animals that they would never get to see if not in a zoo?

I'm not a fan. The animals are often in confined spaces that aren't natural for them, and when you combine that with a lot of the idiots who taunt them, some of the animals are miserable and sometimes mentally ill (you can see this when some of them walk around in circles constantly or rock back and forth even). It's not black or white -- some zoos are much better than others and some animals have better conditions than others. Most people who works at zoos are terrific and truly care, but I'm not a fan, in general, and much prefer larger animal parks where animals can live in their natural habitats with space to roam, and without bars in front of them and people leering at them.

[DMT]

I thought about that and figured someone would bring it up. Let's hope none of us ever face this situation. Would you jump in to save a stranger's kid? and possibly risk death?

If I was with my kids, not a chance. Even if I was alone I don't think I would. It's easy to say 'I definitely would' on a message board, entirely different if death is staring you in the face.

[Mithrandir]

I'm not a fan. The animals are often in confined spaces that aren't natural for them, and when you combine that with a lot of the idiots who taunt them, some of the animals are miserable and sometimes mentally ill (you can see this when some of them walk around in circles constantly or rock back and forth even). It's not black or white -- some zoos are much better than others and some animals have better conditions than others. Most people who works at zoos are terrific and truly care, but I'm not a fan, in general, and much prefer larger animal parks where animals can live in their natural habitats with space to roam, and without bars in front of them and people leering at them.

Excellent points and i do agree with everything you said.

[DMT]

Here are some more details of this story; there were 11 wild dogs in the exhibit and none of the crowd of witnesses jumped in. Zoo officials not only were shooting darts at them but even entered the exhibit to separate the dogs and could not separate 4 of them. So no offense, but those of you who said you'd have jumped in are completely full of ****.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/boy-dead-mauling-pittsburgh-zoo/story?id=17639547#.UJrRsqVmB8s