Boy, 7, goes on animal killing spree in Australian zoo

[Praxius]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/03/australia-zoo.html

The director of an Australian zoo said on Friday he is "horrified" after a seven-year old boy broke into the zoo, fed an assortment of animals to a crocodile and clubbed various lizards to death with a rock.

The boy's attacks happened early Wednesday and were captured on a zoo security camera, said Rex Neindorf, director of the Alice Springs Reptile Centre in Australia's Northern Territory.

The boy, whose identity cannot be revealed, jumped the zoo's security fence before bludgeoning three lizards to death with a rock, including the zoo's much-loved 20-year-old goanna, which he then fed to "Terry," an 11-foot, 440-pound saltwater crocodile, said Neindorf.

The boy also threw several live animals into the crocodile's enclosure, and at one point tried to clamber over the fence surrounding the enclosure in an effort to get closer to the crocodile.

A total of 13 animals, including a turtle, bearded dragons and a thorny devil were killed as a result of the attacks, said Neindorf.

"We're horrified that anyone can do this and saddened by the age of the child," said Neindorf.

The animals, worth about $5,500, weren't rare but they will be hard to replace, he said.

Commenting on the surveillance footage at the scene, Neindorf said the boy's face appeared to be largely blank during his rampage.

"It was like he was playing a game."

The zoo's security system, which relies on sensors to detect intruders, probably didn't spot the boy because of his small size, said Neindorf.

No charges for boy, parents face lawsuit

Under Northern Territory law, no child under the age of 10 can be criminally charged, so Alice Springs police will not be pressing charges against the boy.

But Neindorf said he will sue the boy's parents.

"I just want people to learn that they can't let their children go and run amok," Neindorf said.

"If we can't put the blame onto the child, then someone has to accept the responsibility."

That's one sick little bastard. I hope it was worth it, cuz if it was me in charge of the zoo, their parents would be sued back to the stone ages and living on the street.

And not because of the simple cost of the animals, but because of the death of them. They were used to humans being around them for the most part, they see them every day of their lives, and I'm pretty sure they had little in ability to defend themselves, even from a 7 year old hell spawn.

What a sick little sh*t.

 

[Colpy]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/03/australia-zoo.html



That's one sick little bastard. I hope it was worth it, cuz if it was me in charge of the zoo, their parents would be sued back to the stone ages and living on the street.

And not because of the simple cost of the animals, but because of the death of them. They were used to humans being around them for the most part, they see them every day of their lives, and I'm pretty sure they had little in ability to defend themselves, even from a 7 year old hell spawn.

What a sick little sh*t.

Sociopath.......

Given the opportunity, he'll work his way up to people.....

God forbid we put him in jail when he is 14 and has killed a couple of toddlers....

 

[thomaska]

I wish he'd taken my wife's cats with him...

 

[karrie]

talk about a cry for help. hope he gets it.

 

[Praxius]

talk about a cry for help. hope he gets it.

Killing animals for your own sick pleasure isn't a cry for help, it's a cry for killing things out of some sick, detached pleasure.

If I wanted to make a cry for help, I'd inflict a gunshot wound to myself in the middle of the shopping mall. I don't beat pandas over the head with a metal chair and scream for help.

Then again, being a devil's advocate for him, and being 7 years old, that's the time when I and a few other kids got interested in Dinosaurs, seen pictures of them, taught how vicious and monsterous they could be.... heck I grew up with those collectible cards of Dinos roaming in todays world ripping and killing people in their homes and stuff (Anybody remember those?)

Anyways, to the point.... although I personally don't like this option of explination, most of the animals he killed were reptiles, which he fed to the biggest reptile.... also one of the oldest dinosaurs still living.... chances are he wanted to reproduce his own little dino show for his own entertainment. Chances are, he didn't bother to take the time to think and understand why those animals are there and why he probably shouldn't have done what he did.......

I mean, I did a few things in the past that most would shake their head at..... but feeding a chunk of the zoo to a croc wasn't one of them, let alone close to.

However, my excuse for his actions on wanting to have his own little dinosaur situation only goes so far, as he broke in when he knew hardly anybody, if anybody at all, would be there, so he could get away with this, therefore premeditated, he knew it was wrong, and did it anyways.

Either way, he's still a sick little bastard.

 

[DurkaDurka]

talk about a cry for help. hope he gets it.

A cry for help? Gimme a break.

 

[DurkaDurka]

They should put this kid in a cage with some mountain Gorillas as punishment.

 

[karrie]

You guys get that he's 7 right? 7. There are a lot of little 7 year old boys running around with undeveloped senses of empathy. It's pretty common at that age. Especially when it comes to things that we don't typically attach to emotionally as pets, like lizards. I know so many guys who used to catch, kill, and dissect frogs, turtles and salamanders and such.

At 7 years old it's cause for concern.. it's a reason to get him into counseling (and for someone to supervise the damn kid... hello, he's 7), but it's no reason to lock him up and/or write him off as a human being. Yet.

 

[Nuggler]

:angry3: He tried to climb in and get closer to the croc.

Didn't make it!! too bad.

 

[karrie]

It always pisses me off when society is willing to give dogs more of a chance than human beings. How many rescue organizations do we have for dogs who've been neglected or abused, and have turned into problem animals? Dozens if not hundreds across the country. When you hold that up against someone wishing a 7 year old boy had died because he managed, at 7 years old, to take off to a zoo on his own and kill a bunch of reptiles, it's a wonder more of our children don't slaughter us in the streets. Society frigging deserves it.

 

[#juan]

It always pisses me off when society is willing to give dogs more of a chance than human beings. How many rescue organizations do we have for dogs who've been neglected or abused, and have turned into problem animals? Dozens if not hundreds across the country. When you hold that up against someone wishing a 7 year old boy had died because he managed, at 7 years old, to take off to a zoo on his own and kill a bunch of reptiles, it's a wonder more of our children don't slaughter us in the streets. Society frigging deserves it.

I hope he gets help, add I hope that help works. Right now, without help, he is going down the path to be a serial killer. I hope the help is on time. This is a seriously disturbed boy.

 

[Praxius]

You guys get that he's 7 right? 7. There are a lot of little 7 year old boys running around with undeveloped senses of empathy. It's pretty common at that age. Especially when it comes to things that we don't typically attach to emotionally as pets, like lizards. I know so many guys who used to catch, kill, and dissect frogs, turtles and salamanders and such.

At 7 years old it's cause for concern.. it's a reason to get him into counseling (and for someone to supervise the damn kid... hello, he's 7), but it's no reason to lock him up and/or write him off as a human being. Yet.

I couldn't care less if he's 7 or 92 years old.... his actions were wrong in one of the worst kinds of ways.

Explain to me his actual thinking process, what would be the common factors which would have made him come to the conclusion that he should/wanted to commit this sort of action. What would generally bring a child to this sort of mentality and tell me what direct and detailed actions you would take to address this situation.

I'm so damn tired of hearing people talk about sending these kids into therapy or counseling and then leaving it at that. What sort of counseling? What sort of Therapy? What programs or educational programs would you put this child through yourself?

I've known a few kids who used to kill animals around their yards, but also was done from their parents approval due to teaching them that they were pests, etc.... none of them were big animals, or frogs, or whatever.... they were usually bugs. Most of the sickos who killed animals and reptiles that I knew of were much older then I was, were friends of my sister and were already out of high school..... the closest thing I did in regards to torturing or killing a living creature was pulling apart the shell on a snail to see what it looked like inside......

But I didn't go on a big rampage on animals that were caged up.

I call him a sick little bastard with justification and I will explain:

When I was young, I pulled some pretty stupid stunts, one in paticular was when my brother, cousin and I were playing on the train tacks by my grandfathers as we usually did.... we loaded up a bunch of rocks and pennies on the track and told my cousin that it would derail the VIA train coming in (We were pretty sure it wouldn't, since they were typical rocks off the side of the road that would be crushed to sand by the weight of a train)

The worst we figured would happen was the train would derail and slide a little to the left, not thinking about it possibly being a total disaster with the train flying into some of the nearby houses only feet away from the tracks..... But regardless, we've been told in the past it wouldn't happen, we just wanted to screw with our cousin.

meh....

anyways, the train went by, nothing happened, we moved on.

Normal for kids you say? Is that what I am implying by disclosing my actions as a child?

No.... I call him a sick little bastard, because I was a sick little bastard.

I was a sick little bastard, but I knew my limits on what I thought was completely wrong.... he just went in there like the animals were his own toys to destroy as he pleased.... now either his parents sucked really hard in teaching him right and wrong.... or he's one twisted son of a bitch.

 

[karrie]

I was a sick little bastard, but I knew my limits on what I thought was completely wrong.... he just went in there like the animals were his own toys to destroy as he pleased.... now either his parents sucked really hard in teaching him right and wrong.... or he's one twisted son of a bitch.

This is my point Prax. You were a sick little bastard. Are you a future serial killer who'd have been better off dying from a rock shard launched by a train? There are tons of kids out there who are sick little bastards... that will manage to become perfectly fine people.

 

[karrie]

As for actual counseling Praxius... without actually knowing the kid, seeing assessments etc., there's no way to say what kind of therapy would best teach him empathy. In some kids his age, it could be an autism spectrum disorder that's prompted such behavior regardless of how the parents have raised him. In some cases it could be a problem at home (abuse, lack of attention). I've seen a lot of boys with some major empathy problems, all of them different.

 

[Praxius]

This is my point Prax. You were a sick little bastard. Are you a future serial killer who'd have been better off dying from a rock shard launched by a train?

You know, I always had this thing for catapults.... I want one in my funeral to fling my body into the forest or ocean to go back to nature....

Go figure....

There are tons of kids out there who are sick little bastards... that will manage to become perfectly fine people.

Hey, I'm not the one who said to do anything to him.... I just talked about how his parents are gonna get so screwed, with any luck.

I'm just calling him a sick little bastard. Just like how you called me one.

See.... what's wrong with that? They won't know they're a sick little bastard unless someone tells them so.

I'm just helping the healing process :smile:

 

[Praxius]

As for actual counseling Praxius... without actually knowing the kid, seeing assessments etc., there's no way to say what kind of therapy would best teach him empathy. In some kids his age, it could be an autism spectrum disorder that's prompted such behavior regardless of how the parents have raised him. In some cases it could be a problem at home (abuse, lack of attention). I've seen a lot of boys with some major empathy problems, all of them different.

Then take a look at the footage:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=TxovSDrwly4&feature=related

I'm not going for Some offical conclusion to hold you to in the future to show you were wrong or something, I'm just curious on the typical procedure that would be started, based on the given information. I'm not looking for some long term plan at this point.

Just for the heck of it.... I'm just curious.

 

[karrie]

See.... what's wrong with that? :smile:

Re-read Prax... I never criticized your post regarding him. I criticized those that were ready to write him off.... then you quoted my post and argued with it. So you tell me what was wrong with my post, and saying that it wasn't worth writing him off as a human being. If you feel the same way, why'd you argue it?

 

[karrie]

Then take a look at the footage:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=TxovSDrwly4&feature=related

I'm not going for Some offical conclusion to hold you to in the future to show you were wrong or something, I'm just curious on the typical procedure that would be started, based on the given information. I'm not looking for some long term plan at this point.

Just for the heck of it.... I'm just curious.

what I see in the footage doesn't look a heck of a lot different from the crocodile feeding shows I've seen where handlers gleefully toss chickens in so that people can watch the powerful croc snap and spin and gobble its meal. So I don't know Prax. I know it might sound awful, but, I think he would mainly need some instruction on respecting other people's property and trying to learn to value what other people value. I'm not sure if clunking a few animals on the head to feed another animal is any worse than what he's seen done on tv shows about crocs, or baiting large animals of any sort really. That footage really doesn't tell me that kid is any kind of psychopath... just an unsupervised little thug.

 

[Praxius]

Re-read Prax... I never criticized your post regarding him. I criticized those that were ready to write him off.... then you quoted my post and argued with it. So you tell me what was wrong with my post, and saying that it wasn't worth writing him off as a human being. If you feel the same way, why'd you argue it?

My responses started with your very first comment after what I posted:

"talk about a cry for help. hope he gets it."

I didn't see any reference to what others commented on until after others commented on the above.

I argued that it wasn't a cry for help and if it was a cry for help, by all means explain how it was.

Then you responded with:

"You guys get that he's 7 right? 7......"

Which seemed to include me into that equation in a general manner..... then we got onto this route of discussion in which I tried to see if you could elaborate a bit on what you were referring to.

I argued it based on the approach in which both you and I seem to disagree apon a bit..... so I was asking in general terms how you would go about preventing this from occuring in the child's future again and perhaps setting him on the right path.

What kind of programs, counseling, etc. would you use based on the given information.

I have yet to see an answer.... then again, it could be in your next post which I am about to read......

 

[Praxius]

what I see in the footage doesn't look a heck of a lot different from the crocodile feeding shows I've seen where handlers gleefully toss chickens in so that people can watch the powerful croc snap and spin and gobble its meal.

The thing I see different is

#1 - It's not an employee feeding the animals properly with their given diets, and amounts..... it's a kid tossing as much as he could inside to watch the animals he killed get eaten.

#2 - Those animals he killed were in the zoo for protection and various other reasons, but certainly not to be stoned half to death and fed to another animal there for protection.

#3 - This kid didn't have a crowd to watch his actions until he got plastered all over the news. I'm pretty sure he didn't want others to catch him, or else he wouldn't have sneaked in at the time he did, when he knew nobody would be there.

So I don't know Prax. I know it might sound awful, but, I think he would mainly need some instruction on respecting other people's property and trying to learn to value what other people value.

Well for starters, I would teach him that those animals were not property.

I'm not sure if clunking a few animals on the head to feed another animal is any worse than what he's seen done on tv shows about crocs, or baiting large animals of any sort really. That footage really doesn't tell me that kid is any kind of psychopath... just an unsupervised little thug.

Well besides him probably not seeing what the handlers do for prepping the dead food they give the animals in the zoo or the chances of him being the son of parents who trap animals...... the first thing that caught my attention was that the focus of most of his attacks related to other reptiles.