A group of angry citizens took to change.org this week to create a petition that brings the parents of the child who fell into the gorilla attraction at the Cincinnati Zoo this weekend into question.
The petitioners created a post titled “Justice for Harambe” that blames the child accidentally falling into the attraction called "Gorilla World," and the death of the animal at the hands of the zoo, on the parents. Harambe was shot while the child was still in the habitat.
“We the undersigned believe the child would not have been able to enter the enclosure under proper parental supervision. Witnesses claim that they heard the child state that he wished to go into the enclosure and was actively trying to breach the barriers,” the petition reads. “This should have prompted the parents to immediately remove the child from the vicinity. It is believed that the situation was caused by parental negligence and the zoo is not responsible for the child’s injuries and possible trauma.”
Officials at the zoo decided to kill the gorilla instead of using a tranquilizer dart since it would have taken too long to work, and would have agitated the animal in the process. Eyewitnesses conflicted on whether or not the gorilla had intent to harm the boy, according to CNN. Either way zoo officials needed to act fast. The petitioners understand the zoo's position and chose instead to focus on the negligence of the parents.
“We the undersigned actively encourage an investigation of the child’s home environment in the interests of protecting the child and his siblings from further incidents of parental negligence that may result in serious bodily harm or even death,” read the petition. “Please sign this petition to encourage the Cincinnati Zoo, Hamilton County Child Protection Services, and Cincinnati Police Department to hold the parents responsible.” The petition now has over 150,000 signatures.
One witness, Bruce Davis, supports the zoo’s decision and believes that those questioning the move do not have enough information to make a sound judgement. “You could look in their eyes and tell they had a tough decision to make,” he said to CNN. “It was basically the child or the gorilla and they chose.. a lot of people say poorly..but they didn’t see. I saw it. From what we saw [the child] could have been killed at any second. He threw him 10 feet in the air, and I saw him land on his back. It was a mess.” The zoo’s director, Thane Maynard, defended the decision to kill Harambe during a news conference on Monday. “When it was determined that the child was being injured…we had to make a decision to shoot and we did,” he said.
Source: tmz.com
