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Post by 950nancy on Apr 16, 2015 1:22:40 GMT
We had an incident several years ago with a big cat in our mountain zoo. A child crawled through railings and climbed up the enclosure and the panther (pretty sure it was a panther) was able to get her claws around his head. Boy was hurt and the parents threw a fit that it was so dangerous. No, there was a railing and a steep hill your kid had to shimmy up and around to get in that predicament. While I am nowhere near the perfect mom, I wouldn't have held my kid like she did in this situation. Too risky.
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Post by katieanna on Apr 16, 2015 1:46:41 GMT
At least they had a happy ending. A few years ago a mother set her toddler on the railing at the painted dogs exhibit at the Pgh Zoo and he fell in and got mauled to death by the dogs. This is the incident that I thought of when I read the linked article about the woman who, supposedly, "dangled" her child on a railing. While I feel badly that she's being put through this ordeal I have to wonder how on earth she got her child over that railing far enough that he could fall into the cheetahs' exhibit. My sympathy was with the mother until I saw the picture of the railing.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,562
Jul 24, 2014 19:51:57 GMT
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Post by MerryMom on May 28, 2015 18:04:21 GMT
UPDATE: Ohio woman enters plea for son's fall into zoo cheetah pit
May 27, 2015
A Columbus-area woman whose son fell into a cheetah pit at a Cleveland zoo last month has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge in a Cleveland courtroom.
Thirty-eight-year-old Michelle Schwab of Delaware, Ohio, was originally charged with child endangering after authorities said she dangled her 2-year-old son over the railing of the zoo's cheetah exhibit and dropped him April 11. She pleaded no contest to aggravated trespassing on Wednesday.
Schwab and her husband went into the exhibit to retrieve the boy, who broke his leg in the fall. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo officials have said the cheetahs did not approach the boy or his parents. Schwab is scheduled to be sentenced June 17.
Her attorney did not return telephone calls seeking comment on Wednesday.
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on May 28, 2015 22:05:28 GMT
I'm sure you've all seen the feeding frenzy in the media over this story/non-story the last three freaking days. linkHere's the real story. This family is from my town. I don't know them, but I know their neighbor and good friend. This family is completely devestated by this incident. The mother did not "Dangle" her child over the railing. She was holding her twin 2 year olds, so they could see the cheetahs. How many of us have done that same thing - held a small child up so they could see something, maybe set them on a railing while holding on to them, thinking we had a good grip? One of them squirmed suddenly, as 2 yr olds are prone to do. He slipped over the rail, and she couldn't keep hold of him, with the other child in her arms. It happened so fast, and the boy fell. A terrible accident that could have been tragic, but an accident, nonetheless. How many of us can say "There but for the grace of God, go I?" The media frenzy has completely wrecked this poor family. The media found out where she works, a child care facility, and now she is being attacked on that front and may lose her job. Its despicable and a sad reflection on our society and our need to jump to conclusions and judgment. This account is not quite accurate. she (her lawyer) stated In court that she aced the one child on the railing and turned her back to attend to the other child and the first one fell. That is what SHE says. There were eye witnesses that swore that she was holding the child over the railing. By her pleading to a lesser charge, she gets to say what she wants with no witness to refute. Regardless, her lack of judgment was the sole reason that her child fell, broke their leg and landed her in court.
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scrapaddie
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,090
Jul 8, 2014 20:17:31 GMT
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Post by scrapaddie on May 28, 2015 22:17:38 GMT
I'm sure you've all seen the feeding frenzy in the media over this story/non-story the last three freaking days. linkHere's the real story. This family is from my town. I don't know them, but I know their neighbor and good friend. This family is completely devestated by this incident. The mother did not "Dangle" her child over the railing. She was holding her twin 2 year olds, so they could see the cheetahs. How many of us have done that same thing - held a small child up so they could see something, maybe set them on a railing while holding on to them, thinking we had a good grip? One of them squirmed suddenly, as 2 yr olds are prone to do. He slipped over the rail, and she couldn't keep hold of him, with the other child in her arms. It happened so fast, and the boy fell. A terrible accident that could have been tragic, but an accident, nonetheless. How many of us can say "There but for the grace of God, go I?" The media frenzy has completely wrecked this poor family. The media found out where she works, a child care facility, and now she is being attacked on that front and may lose her job. Its despicable and a sad reflection on our society and our need to jump to conclusions and judgment. Hi! I also live in Delaware. And I am a docent at the Columbus zoo. One of our jobs is to gently ask parents not to set children on railings. There are signs all over the place but people just ignore it. We fear that this exact thing will happen. Most of the time parents will comply, but there our parents who have gotten nasty with me. It's fine to hold a child up, but hold the child in your arms . don't place them on the railing. I don't know if the Cleveland zoo has signs, But setting a child on a railing at a zoo is simply dangerous!
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on May 28, 2015 22:20:53 GMT
Man, I thought I had written a response to this post the first time around. I even remember typing it.
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scrapaddie
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,090
Jul 8, 2014 20:17:31 GMT
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Post by scrapaddie on May 28, 2015 22:29:28 GMT
That's all well and good but those fences and railings are there for a reason and it isn't to set your child on. Well no sh*t. Thanks for that insight. She didn't plop him up there and let go of him. She had her arm around him the whole time. But toddlers are slippery creatures, aren't they? But I doubt that there is a mother among us that hasn't done something similar at a zoo/aquarium/theme park/museum etc. You walk up to an exhibt with a railing that your child can't see over. You hold them up. Maybe you sit their tush on the railing, never imagining that something bad could happen in the blink of an eye. I know I have done it. The question should also be, why did the zoo not have the exhibit more protected, with netting below the railing to catch anything that might be dropped over the railing? [br No, you don't set their tush on a railing! Especially When there is a steep drop and carnivores on the other side!! This is simply not intelligent behavior. And I said that as gently as I could. Animals at the zoo are not pets. Even the keepers do not enter the enclosures for many of them. This habitat exceeded safety requirements.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 13:35:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2015 22:33:22 GMT
Of course lynlam won't come back to this convo either. She shits and runs everywhere she goes. It's alllllllllllll the dirty liberalsssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!!!?!!!?
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Post by *Scrapper*Stamper* on May 29, 2015 0:07:06 GMT
I can honestly say that I was an overprotective mother and none of my children would have ever been in that situation. It was a piss poor decision and honestly, if she worked for me, she would have lost her job immediately. A daycare cannot afford to have someone that makes a decision like that that could have resulted in death in charge of other people's children. I can guarantee if my children were in that daycare AND she still worked there, I would have pulled my children out.
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