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Zoo's Fault Or Mom's?


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#1 Deb aka Resume Lady

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 09:59 AM

http://www.nbcphilad...-223381591.html

 

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium says the mother of a 2-year-old boy fatally mauled in a wild African dogs exhibit is to blame in her son's death and shouldn't be allowed to sue.
 
The claim filed Monday in Allegheny County is in response to a lawsuit brought by the parents of Maddox Derkosh.
 
Jason and Elizabeth Derkosh are seeking unspecified damages in the Nov. 4 death of Maddox, who fell over a 4-foot-tall railing into the exhibit after his mother lifted him up to get a better look.
 
The zoo says in the court filing that Maddox's death was "caused solely by the carelessness, negligence and/or recklessness of Elizabeth Derkosh."
 
The parents' attorney, Robert Mongeluzzi, said in a statement Wednesday that "the zoo's position is dead wrong and shameful."

In the family's lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Zoo, they claim the zoo had been warned by several of its own employees "of the very tragedy that would take Maddox's life, ignored the warnings, and told at least one of those employees, that 'this is not your concern, go back to work.'"

 


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#2 4thgenFolsomite

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 10:03 AM

The zoo is right. 


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#3 Steve Heard

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 10:45 AM

If they can prove that there were warnings which were ignored, the zoo will lose.


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#4 4thgenFolsomite

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 11:22 AM

If they can prove that there were warnings which were ignored, the zoo will lose.

 

like a "don't put your kid in a position where he might fall over our protective fence into an enclosure where we keep wild animals" sign?


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#5 WolfMom

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 11:52 AM

First, what a horrible thing to lose a child and right in front of your eyes. My prayers go out to the spirit of this child and his family.

 

Next, maybe I am missing something here; could the boy not see over the wall so she lifted him up? I would never knowingly place my child up on a wall like that.

 

Zoo = Wild Animals
Wild Animals = Inherent Danger
Parenting = Keeping Young Ones In Your Care Out of Inherent Danger

 

Maybe my math doesn't add up but I do not think I would have sued the zoo. I hope and pray I never find myself in such a position, considering such.


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#6 aztransplant

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 12:01 PM

Photos included here:

http://www.post-gaze...-limits-660795/

#7 nomad

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 12:15 PM

Wow those are some pretty aggressive creatures. You'd figure they wouldn't be THAT aggressive around people but maybe they don't interact with enough handlers or maybe that breed is just psycho killing anything that moves.

 

And recall those 2 jack holes that got eaten by the tigers in SF a few years back after climbing in the exhibit and harassing them? Pretty sure the zoo lost something in that deal so for sure the idiot lady who dropped her kid in there will get something out of this.



#8 Deb aka Resume Lady

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 12:18 PM

Thanks, AZ -- I was looking for photos and couldn't find them. From the deck view in that article, I see no warning signs. I'm sure they're there somewhere, but they should be posted every few feet so there would be no way people could miss them.

 

Havng said that.......if I were running the zoo I would start with the assumption that many people are stupid and self-entitled and think nothing is ever going to happen to them such that they will ignore my frequent and large signs. I'd have fencing or walls tall enough that it would be impossible for anyone to climb or lift a child up and onto or over.

 

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? There are barriers and guard rails all over the place with signs warning people to not cross over to the other side. Every time I've gone and at frequent locations each visit I've seen people crossing over to the other side -- as if being 12 inches closer to the other side (which is hundreds of miles away) is going to give them a better photograph. There are also signs everywhere warning that squirrels could be rabid and to not feed them.... but that doesn't stop visitors from luring them close to feed them. As I said, I'd start with the assumption above.

 

Signs or no signs, it is the parent's responsiblity to keep his/her children safe. There's no way in h*ll I'd lift and position my child in such a dangerous manner. But that's me. In the end, all too often, children pay the price for their parents' stupidity.


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#9 WolfMom

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 12:20 PM

 

After seeing the pictures I do think the zoo could have had something a bit better but the mother SHOULD NOT have placed that child up on that railing. So although I do not put the white hat on the Zoo, neither do I feel it to be the outright villain. A tragedy to be sure.


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#10 (Cheesesteak)

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 02:20 PM

Tragic.  Horrible to witness, I am sure - and tragic.

 

Question . . .

 

Say my neighbor has a dangerous guard dog.  Neighbor also has a solid and adequte 6-foot fence around his property.  I walk up to the fence and hold my young kid up on the top of the fence so he can see the dangerous dog.  I drop him in my neighbor's yard and the dog kills him.

 

How is that my neighbor's fault?  Is this different?  Don't you assume, unless told otherwise - that any animal being kept in the zoo is potetnially dangerous?



#11 Deb aka Resume Lady

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 02:36 PM

Tragic.  Horrible to witness, I am sure - and tragic.

 

Question . . .

 

Say my neighbor has a dangerous guard dog.  Neighbor also has a solid and adequte 6-foot fence around his property.  I walk up to the fence and hold my young kid up on the top of the fence so he can see the dangerous dog.  I drop him in my neighbor's yard and the dog kills him.

 

How is that my neighbor's fault?  Is this different?  Don't you assume, unless told otherwise - that any animal being kept in the zoo is potetnially dangerous?

 

I get your point, but no one invited you to go look over your neighbor's fence. In this instance, the zoo is open for business -- inviting people to come look -- and has a responsibility to facilitate the safety of its visitors. Slightly different scenario. They can't prevent all kinds of stupidity (oh, how I wish there was a way to do that!), but where they can take extra measures to assure safety they should make every effort to do so.


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#12 4thgenFolsomite

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 02:56 PM

The zoo even had protective netting under the railing area in case someone fell.  The boy bounced on it twice and fell off.  What more could the zoo do?  It's obvious its dangerous to fall into an enclosure of wild animals.  I guess they could screen everyone in completely so no one could have the experience of seeing them without a physical barrier between them. 

 

I fear this is a growing problem with our country today.  No one takes any personal responsibility and our lives are so "safe" that we don't understand real consequences of our actions.  Someone has to pay.


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#13 Darth Lefty

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 03:44 PM

The enclosure was probably designed to keep dogs in and not monkeys out


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#14 TruthSeeker

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 03:46 PM

If they can prove that there were warnings which were ignored, the zoo will lose.


There needs to be common sense laws, people shouldn't be allowed to sue just because they were too stupid to have any common sense. What's next? Close the zoo because nobody is smart enough to stay out of the animal exhibits?

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Posted 12 September 2013 - 04:03 PM

 

I get your point, but no one invited you to go look over your neighbor's fence. In this instance, the zoo is open for business -- inviting people to come look -- and has a responsibility to facilitate the safety of its visitors. Slightly different scenario. They can't prevent all kinds of stupidity (oh, how I wish there was a way to do that!), but where they can take extra measures to assure safety they should make every effort to do so.

 

Yep - that is a difference - although the act that lead to the injury is the same.  She was an invitee - but she's the one that dropped her child into the animal pen.  At some point - people need to be responsible for their own actions. 

 

At the end of the day - what she is saying is that it is the zoo's fault that she dropped her kid in the pen.

 

Same thing would have happened, for example, if her and her child were on a cruise ship and she picked up her child over the railing and he fell.

 

Using your logic - every railing near any potetnially dangerous condition would need to be sufficiently high so that one could not easily get over it.  I, for one, do not want to live in that world, thank you.






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