SC causes death of entire family of Meerkats

[Mixed Bag]

So this is where everyone's been--the one post that brought disparate members together like none other. And here I thought the OP pretty much summed it up by inference.

The sadness seems so obvious I don't know what to say.

Brain matter is what's tested for rabies

From the meerkats, yes--certainly the mother has none to supply.

the mother and daughter should have been made to perform the euthanising.

Elegantly logical and a fair start. Better than all this beating I'm sorry to hear a number you reporting you'd get, whether you actually would or not. But our enthusiastic response to the article about overprotection doesn't mean we have to go back to hitting--let's invent something new.

Related to our rant against excessive control: glad to see others like old metal and wood things. Makes me want to take the gloves off my old sig: Hey, everyone having those lookalike metal garage doors with fake woodgrain makes you look like you have no confidence in your own taste: same for those blindingly white vinyl windows with fake crossbars that don't look 3-D and concrete roofs trying to look like shakes. At least few people have plastic picket fences so far…but what happened to days when people weren't afraid to pick out their own paint for houses?

Speaking of preservation of fauna and flora, my allegedly environmentally-friendly blue city just cut big trees down because they outgrew the narrow strip between sidewalk and street, causing massive buckling of the former. It's a very quiet street, were I confined to a wheelchair I'd ride in the street rather than want the sidewalk smoothed and the trees gone.

kids are afraid of shots but they also, in general, love animals and wouldn't want one to die.

I think a children's hospital solved the problem of kids taking stuffed animals home by bandaging them and saying they had to remain behind to heal.

If cleverness would help the girl be brave, I'd gladly supply her with an anthem:

Every syringe, each injection, every needle
Haemorrhaging and cramping to beat all
Screaming at the nurses above
All for meerkat lo----o-----ove!

Barbed wire and glass all around? Zoos are trying to make the habitat as natural as possible. Bad enough they're ripped out of their world or bred in captivity for our viewing pleasure - but for stupid people's safety they should be made to feel as if they're in jail? I would never support a zoo with my money if I saw conditions like that.

I haven't even resolved my moral stance on the most naturalistic of zoos-good for you and the other(s?) who commented on wanting a family-friendly atmosphere.

Um, hello, the coyotes were there first. Personally, it's pretty cool to hear them howling some nights!

I was telling someone about a tree in front of someone's house where birds chirped all night (pleasant, no screeches) and she thought, in this overconcretized age, “how annoying!”

Sounds to me, the zoo should have just told the family. Hey, it's your choice. I suggest you get that kid rabies shots. Otherwise you won't know until she starts foaming.

They can't force treatment on me, so I'm not sure why bother going through the motions.

Rather than crusade on the boards I'll just say I'm glad there are political parties and individuals who think like this; you can look them up.

[Spiffy McMoron]

I'll go one step further, which hasn't been suggested yet. I'm thinking of poor CRH (hope I've got the right CSer there) and the puppy killing story and I'm thinking - the mother and daughter should have been made to perform the euthanising. Now, I'm not saying it should be allowed to be potentially inhumane because they're inexperienced, but that they should what CRH did - administer the final shot under supervision.

Actually, I believe that it was not CRH that did that, it was in fact Cominatcha.

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/showthread.php?t=676

And when I was nine, I had no issues figuring out when to pet animals and when not to-growing up with a farmer father will do that.

[air914]

Oh. My. Gosh. And I was already having a bad day with a lack of faith in humanity. This only further enforces my desire for pushing a law that requires everyone to take a test before they have kids- if they don't pass, then they must be sterilized because they are too stupid to raise children. Way to teach your child that all living creatures should be respected you stupid . I know damn well that my parents would have made me get those shots and give me a red bottom to go along with it. After all, it wouldv'e been MY fault if I was dumb enough to put my fingers in a cage full of wild animals. I hope that zoo posts this woman's picture on the walls as a reminder to others not to touch the animals. Normally I don't condone the actions of PETA, but in this case I'd be willing to cheer them on if they decide to egg this womans' house. What further ticks me off is if they would've found rabies in one of those meerkats, then little pwecious would have had to get the shots anyway!

I TOTALLY AGREE - maybe not steralize people - but I've always thought you should have to ahve a license to have children - you have a license to have a gun, you have to show one to drink, you have to have one to drive - why not one for children?? You are NOT allowed to take your child home until you have proven you are a sane, capable person who isnt' going to beat their kids to get them to "shut up" or let them stick their hands in animals cages and then kill all the animals............. if you can't prove your capable - then the babies go up for adoption to capable parents!

[csdrone]

What kind of evil pitiful excuse for a human would teach their kids to be stupid? Was the egg donor expecting to be able to sue?

[Tito]

I hope that bitch of a mother & her brat child are both banned from the zoo after that.

[varmintjane]

Elegantly logical and a fair start. Better than all this beating I'm sorry to hear a number you reporting you'd get, whether you actually would or not. But our enthusiastic response to the article about overprotection doesn't mean we have to go back to hitting--let's invent something new.


I haven't even resolved my moral stance on the most naturalistic of zoos-good for you and the other(s?) who commented on wanting a family-friendly atmosphere..

A "beating" isn't necessarily as awful as it sounds and for some kids, it's the only thing that works. Getting a swat on the butt is entirely different from being beaten with an extension cord, y'know.

There's a drive-through zoo in South Dakota near Rapid City called Bear Country. They have the grizzly bears, mountain lions and buffalo in a separate enclosure away from the other animals/cars, but otherwise the brown and black bears, wolves, elk and mountain goats roam around freely. They make you keep your windows rolled up and you can't leave your vehicle, but when you pay admission, they give you a paper saying that by paying you accept that the zoo has no liability if your vehicle or your person gets damaged (or eaten). We had our windows down for the elk and mountain goats, but once we got to the bear area we rolled them up. Towards the end one of the bears began chewing on the front of the car, but no damage was done except possibly my pants People followed the rules pretty well and I didn't see anyone dangling their kids out of the car window or anything.

Even in the baby animal area, I didn't see any kids trying to get into the enclosures or dangling their hands inside, so it's probably just a matter of upbringing and paying attention to your kid. I still don't understand how she was able to get that close to the meerkats without a parent noticing.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Too bad it wasn't a king cobra she tried to touch. I've just read this thread, what a selfish cow that girl was? My parents would have forced me to take the shots and made me write a letter of apology to the zoo, too.

[Tito]

Too bad it wasn't a king cobra she tried to touch. I've just read this thread, what a selfish cow that girl was? My parents would have forced me to take the shots and made me write a letter of apology to the zoo, too.

Same with mine had I done anything like that! Times have sure changed. Alot of parents these days think that their precious little angels can do no wrong.

[COMINATCHA]

"I'll go one step further, which hasn't been suggested yet. I'm thinking of poor CRH (hope I've got the right CSer there) and the puppy killing story and I'm thinking - the mother and daughter should have been made to perform the euthanising. Now, I'm not saying it should be allowed to be potentially inhumane because they're inexperienced, but that they should what CRH did - administer the final shot under supervision."

I'm pretty sure that's my story you are talking about


This was brought up by a couple of people already, but I wonder whether the girl was told that they would be killed because of what she did? I doubt it, as the parents seem like the type who want to wrap their kid up in bubble wrap, so the precious little thing will never have to be in any kind of pain. Pain is a part of life, and as everyone has been saying, she should have had the shots and deal with it. Those little creatures suffered the worst pain of death, and then there is the heartache and sadness of all the people who liked the meerkats. I nearly cried, it made me that upset

[aly7123]

I can't believe that someone would let their child act this way in a place like a zoo. That mother needed to sit her child down and explain how those animals are wild and should not be petted before they even entered the zoo. Even though I don't have any children, I do have a 10 year old stepsister and I take her a lot of places, including zoos. I never let her out of my site and I always tell her how I expect her to behave. If she does anything that could endanger herself or others, we immediately leave the place and my stepfather is told about it. If she had done anything like this girl did, she would have been taken right to the hospital and given those shots, no questions asked. Then she would have been punished for her stupidity. Of course, I would never take my eyes off her long enough for her to be able to get that close to an animal.

As for the girl not wanting the shots because of the pain, there are solutions to that. I am 24 years old, but still terrified of shots. I would give the doctors such a hard time whenever I had to get a shot. However, a few years ago, they came out with this cream (I can't remember the name) that you put on your arm (or wherever you have to get a shot) an hour before the shot and it numbs the area enough that you can't even feel the shot. It wasn't that expensive and I think it was covered by insurance anyway. I am someone who is deathly afraid of shots but this helped me get them no problem. Sometimes you feel slight pressure but no pain at all. There was no reason that the girl's mother could not have gotten some of this for her daughter if she was so afraid of the shots. It would have been a small price to pay in order to save those meerkats' lives and then she wouldn't have to worry about her daughter feeling all that pain. And I'm sure the doctor would have told the mother about this cream if she had told him that her daughter was too afraid of the pain of the shots. But then again, maybe the mother still would have said no anyway.

It's amazing how inconsiderate some people can be.

[Phone Jockey]

If she has rabies she'll have to have those shots anyway. What a bunch of losers.

[AFpheonix]

Aly- You're just talking about plain old lidocaine cream. It's been out for ages, and it works well for that.

Me, I just turn my head away, so I can't see what they're doing, and it's all good.

When I dose my horses, I'll either pinch the area really well so they can't feel the needle go in, or I'll pat it firmy a few times and pop the needle in. Works pretty well in both cases.

[Pagan]

I still don't understand how she was able to get that close to the meerkats without a parent noticing.

Probably because she was nowhere near the kid. A lot of "parents" (and I use that term loosely) see the zoo, the mall, our store as a free baby-sitting place where they can let the child wander and we're supposed to watch them. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the mall or Wally World and seen a toddler roaming with no parents in sight! It's not because the kid got away from them (like they're wont to do occasionally), but because they seemingly don't care to notice. And then they wonder why/how kids get snatched!

[One-Fang]

As for the girl not wanting the shots because of the pain, there are solutions to that.

I assumed that the pain is more like a tetanus shot. It's not the needle going in that's the problem, it's the resulting pain over the next couple of hours in that part of the body.

I never for a moment thought it was just needle pain. Heck, if I did, I just couldn't cope. It's bad enough they want to avoid a few hours of pain, but a couple of pricks? I'd just fall down numb, completely unable to cope with the entitlement.

Someone please tell me rabies shots are painful for more than the prick.

(Oops, I got Cominatcha and CRH mixed up in the puppy story. I'm sure they'll both forgive me. )

[batmoody]

I'm not sure, but I think you could actually go to hell for something like that......