Zoo: Wild dogs killed boy who fell
<p>The overlook platform where a boy fell into the exhibit that was home to a pack of African painted dogs is seen at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium on Monday. Zoo officials said a young boy was killed after he fell into the exhibit and the dogs mauled him on Sunday. Reports indicate that the child hit the netting seen protruding at left before falling into the enclosure.</p>
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A zoo where a 2-year-old boy fell into an exhibit and was fatally mauled by African wild dogs had met or exceeded all safety standards for animals and visitors, proving that no exhibit is "fail-proof," the zoo's president said Monday.
Nearby staff responded "within seconds" on Sunday but quickly determined the dog attack was fatal and didn't send handlers into the enclosure to intervene, Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium president Barbara Baker said.
Instead, the dogs were recalled into an indoor enclosure as they've been trained to respond, though four of the 11 lingered near the boy even after blank anesthetic darts, used out of an abundance of caution for the boy's safety, were fired to shoo them away. One of the dogs, which are endangered, was fatally shot by police.
Baker said the zoo has been open since 1898 and this is the first time there has been "a visitor incident of this magnitude." She called the boy's death a "horrible, horrible tragedy" and said there's "no such thing as a fail-proof exhibit."
Baker struggled to maintain her composure during her Monday news conference and made clear she was careful to consider the family's feelings before answering questions, including one about how the boy died.
She paused several seconds before saying, "I'm trying to think of a family-sensitive way to address that. The child did not die from the fall. The child was mauled by the dogs."
Police were investigating, though police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki, who attended Baker's news conference, said he was there only to observe.
The boy's mother had put him on a wooden railing at the edge of a viewing deck before he fell late Sunday morning. He bounced out of netting below before dropping more than 10 feet into the dogs' enclosure.