8/9/2023 0 Comments Pittsburgh zoo wild dogs![]() ![]() Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray has said the zoo has met safety standards of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and that the U.S. investigated the boy's death and deemed it a "tragic accident," deciding not to prosecute his mother or zoo officials.īut the standard of proof for criminal charges is greater than that needed to prove negligence or recklessness in a civil lawsuit, in which a jury could have decided that both sides share some responsibility. The first excerpt says, "Wild dog exhibit has one side of the exhibit that is open and a visitor was seen dangling a child over the exhibit through the opening." According to the court filing, similar observations were brought to the safety committee's attention on four more occasions by July 2007 - including one that said, "Guest are dangling children over the railing at the Wild Dogs exhibit" - but Mongeluzzi contends the exhibit still was not changed until after Maddox was killed.Īllegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. In October, Mongeluzzi filed a counterclaim on behalf of Elizabeth Derkosh, which included excerpts from the minutes of several of the zoo's safety committee meetings since August 2006. The parents' attorney, Robert Mongeluzzi, said then that the zoo "failed miserably in their solemn responsibility to prevent the attack" and "shamelessly attacked Maddox's grieving mother." She "knew or should have known he could fall into the exhibit" and failed "to maintain a proper grasp of Maddox Derkosh after lifting him over the railing." "The injuries and damages sustained by Maddox Derkosh, including Maddox Derkosh's death, were caused solely by the carelessness, negligence, and/or recklessness of Elizabeth Derkosh," the zoo's attorney wrote in the court filing. The Derkoshes sued in May 2013, and the zoo countered in September by arguing his mother was to blame for his death, because she lifted him atop the 4-foot-tall wooden railing that surrounded the raised observation platform so he could get a better look into the exhibit. The bespectacled boy, who had vision problems, became the only visitor in the zoo's 116-year history to die. He had bounced off a net meant to catch falling debris and trash, then into the exhibit, where several dogs fatally attacked him. The couple's son, Maddox, lunged from his mother's grasp and fell some 10 feet from the top of a wooden railing into an enclosed exhibit below in 2012. ![]() ![]() The Derkosh family and the zoo request that the privacy of all parties involved be respected," the statement said. "Details of the settlement will remain confidential. The dogs normally live in a 1.5-acre exhibit called the Painted Dog Bush Camp that's part of a larger open area called the African Savanna, where elephants, lions and other animals can be seen.PITTSBURGH - The parents of a 2-year-old boy who was fatally mauled after falling into a wild African dogs exhibit have settled their lawsuit against the Pittsburgh zoo.Īttorneys for the boy's parents, Jason and Elizabeth Derkosh, issued a joint statement Monday with the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Baker said the zoo, which has never had a visitor death, plans an internal investigation, and no decision has been made yet on the future of the exhibit. Police and the Allegheny County medical examiner's office were investigating. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered. African wild dogs are also known as cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs, and painted wolves. The dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, 2 to 2.5 feet high and 37 to 80 pounds, according to the zoo. Three more eventually were drawn away from the boy, but the last dog wouldn't come into the building, and police had to shoot him, Baker told the station. Zookeepers called off the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. When the boy fell, other visitors immediately told staff members, who responded along with Pittsburgh police. Witnesses and officials described a chaotic scene.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |