Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What the fuck is wrong with people these days?

123 replies

Soubriquet · 21/05/2018 17:00

A 12 year old boy stuck his hands through the bars and when a meerkat bit him, he killed her. The meerkat was pregnant at the time.

Why has his parents not taught him to keep their hands out of enclosures? Or not killing?

Where was his parents when he decided to do that?

I don't agree with him receiving death threats as some people are saying but I bloody hope he gets a good bollocking

OP posts:
Original poster
Soubriquet · 21/05/2018 18:10

That BBC articulate just proved my point

"The father blamed the zoo for not taking better care of their animals"

No, you should teach your kid to be a bloody human and read the signs!

OP posts:
kalinkafoxtrot45 · 21/05/2018 18:10

Horrible child. Kids should be taught to treat animals with respect and care. But death threats are totally OTT.

Original poster
Soubriquet · 21/05/2018 18:11

Oh yes I did say in my OP that death threats is going way to far.

OP posts:
brizzledrizzle · 21/05/2018 18:12

Poor meerkat. The people who are sending him death threats are the ones who really are behaving appalling; they are adults who should know even better than a 12 year old boy.

He was wrong, without a doubt. I can't see how he could manage to fling the animal to the ground with such force that it killed the animal if the bars of the cage were appropriately designed. I think he, the zoo, school and his parents all have to carry some of the responsibility but most of all him.

I wonder what the law there is with regard to death threats sent online, hopefully it's a criminal offence like it is here.

BrendasUmbrella · 21/05/2018 18:12

I hope he, or his mum, are prosecuted.

Oh, an IVF baby. No father.

Luisa27 · 21/05/2018 18:13

Yes I read about this earlier - absolutely horrible and terribly upsetting. So so shocking that the boy acted like this...he was 12 and old enough to know not to poke his fingers through the bars. His abhorrent parents are also were woefully negligent in letting him behave like this.
What a vile, cruel family

crunchymint · 21/05/2018 18:13

brizzle He shook the meerkat so hard he broke its back. According to BBC.

Luisa27 · 21/05/2018 18:14

*parent-not parents

user546425732 · 21/05/2018 18:15

crunchymind

He shook the meerkat so hard he broke its back. According to BBC.

Charming...what a lovely child.

Rudgie47 · 21/05/2018 18:16

I dislike zoos and would never visit one again.Theres always things like this being reported or the animals dying through neglect/error or being shot when they have escaped.

ToadOfSadness · 21/05/2018 18:18

I am still fuming over the poor gorilla that was killed because a child climbed into the enclosure, this just adds to my feeling that children should be tied up if they can't behave.

Animals should be kept away from the public because they are not safe, proper fencing is needed and security for the protection of the animals. Perhaps the threats will be carried out, It wouldn't sadden me as much as the killing of a sentient creature in such an evil way.

Reminds me why I prefer animals to children.

Luisa27 · 21/05/2018 18:18

Hear hear @Rudgie47

That1950sMum · 21/05/2018 18:19

Oh, an IVF baby. No father.

IVF babies have fathers. What a stupid, ignorant comment.

Original poster
Soubriquet · 21/05/2018 18:22

I do agree that zoos have their faults but I believe they are essential conservation wise.

Without them, we would have lost many critically endangered animals

OP posts:
ZibbidooZibbidooZibbidoo · 21/05/2018 18:23

I’m glad the zoo director called it as it is. He said the youth have no respect for nature. That’s exactly what caused this animals death. If this had happened in the U.K. the spokesperson would be skirting round the issue and refer to it as an unfortunate incident instead of calling it what it is.

feral · 21/05/2018 18:23

I hope that no one goes through with death threats but the little fucker deserves punishment.

Ginkypig · 21/05/2018 18:25

Sorry but all that instinct stuff is not an excuse

A wild cat bit me hard and deep enough through my hand that 30 odd years later I can still see the scars from the teeth at my knuckles. Did I kill it of course not even at 5 years old I knew that would be wrong

blueflorals · 21/05/2018 18:26

I think blaming the parents is fucking ridiculous.

Lweji · 21/05/2018 18:31

Clearly a serial killer on the making.

More seriously, it's hardly "people". It was one boy who did something wrong, although I'd worry about his capacity for empathy. Killing an animal like this is not a good sign.

Carycach100 · 21/05/2018 18:31

iThe meerkat bit the boy on the finger - he then swung her into the ground as he pulled his hand away, and she was killed on impac

So he was trying to swing her off his hand!.The poor kid was probably just trying to stroke a cute animal, he got attacked and tried to flick het off as he pulled his hand out.
The probem lies squarely with the zoo and their inadequate barrier

Pengggwn · 21/05/2018 18:31

Perhaps the threats will be carried out, It wouldn't sadden me as much as the killing of a sentient creature in such an evil way.

You would seriously be less distressed about the murder of a 12 year old than the - sad - death of a meerkat?

Jesus.

Chocolatecoffeeaddict · 21/05/2018 18:35

A child killing an animal is disturbing. Death threats to a child is not acceptable but he needs to be punished and learn that you don't go round killing animals.

wrenika · 21/05/2018 18:35

The parents have succeeded in raising a child with no respect for other living creatures...they may not have been present, but they formed the morals of this nasty little specimen.

crunchymint · 21/05/2018 18:37

The reports saying he swung it on the ground are not accurate according to the BBC. The BBC say he swung the meerkat so hard he broke her back. That sounds less like an accident.

Pengggwn · 21/05/2018 18:39

crunchymint

A meerkat's back is probably an easy thing to break. If it is like a rabbit, they get spinal injuries all the time. Their bones are small and delicate, and a twelve year old trying to shake her off could easily have broken her back accidentally.

Some of the people posting here about a child they don't actually know and an incident they didn't see, translated into English, should be ashamed of themselves. They have no idea what the child was thinking.