What we know: a four-year-old boy got into an enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, forcing zoo workers to kill Harambe the gorilla after he refused commands to leave the area.
The internet went wild after the story broke. Folks are screaming that we should charge Michelle Gregg, the boy's mother, with child negligence, that she should lose all her children, that she should have to pay for all 17 years of Harambe's care and for any expense the zoo would undergo to replace the rare gorilla.
There are even questions as to whether it should have been the boy who was rescued. Maybe the kid should have been shot instead.
"Why
should a human life be more important than a gorilla's life?" asked Alia Marie on Washington Post's facebook page recently. "We have
too many humans on earth and not enough gorillas. We can definitely
stand to lower the human population."
Wow. The amazing part of this all is that there are plenty of other similar comments on the internet. Some of them also remind Ms. Gregg that she'll get hers later and so on. If I were her, I'd be changing my name and moving to another state right quick, the very second I were legally able to do so.
Look. I'm pretty sure after something huge like this happens, it gets investigated by the cops, by zoo officials and whatever licensing organisation they belong to, and yeah... CPS. Everyone screaming about how the kid said he'd like to get in to see the gorillas, how many other kids the mom had with her, whether she ran XYZ/ Whatever Name Childcare... guess what? I will betya that is all being investigated, as well as how to prevent the public from getting into the enclosure again.
Personally? If I'm not there? And I haven't inspected the enclosure? And I am not an expert on gorilla behaviour? I'm leaving this alone and letting the experts deal with it.
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Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
We are a sick society if a gorilla's life ever becomes more important than a child's, regardless of the drama surrounding it. I don't have words...for that type of thinking. God help us...may they never join the ruling class.
ReplyDeleteThere are just so many of these rotten voices out there. We are all in very big trouble.
DeleteI am not saying the mom is some perfect saint. But we're talking of a four-year-old child here. I'm amazed at the vitriol.
Good post, Christine! People are somewhat crazy... (and that may be an understatement!)
ReplyDeleteThanks! And yes, they are!
DeleteThere's been a pop up on my home news page that suggests the boy was in trouble in the moat and the gorilla was holding him up out of the water, saving him.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the whole story any more than anyone else, but I don't see why the gorilla couldn't have been tranquilised instead of killed. They'd save the boy, improve the safety fence and then keep a permanent watch on the gorilla to be sure it doesn't happen again. and maybe the boy would get a smack on the behind for disobeying the rules.
Let's be clear here, I mean ONE smack, NOT a full on beating.
Apparently there are other videos (unedited) coming out that suggest he was in danger. And zoo officials said that tranquilising the gorilla would take minutes to take effect.
DeleteTell you what though, if a mom smacked her kid one time to prevent him from running into traffic or hoppng in an animal pen, I'd look the other way too. :)