Nov 5 (Reuters) - The mother of a 2-year-old boy who died
after falling into a pit of African wild dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo stood him up on a railing before he fell and was immediately attacked by 11 dogs, police said.

The boy was visiting the zoo with his 34-year-old mother,
who had put him on the railing for a better view of the animals,
known as African painted dogs, police said.

The zoo was closed immediately after the incident on Sunday
and remained shut on Monday.

Authorities are trying to determine if the boy died from the
fall or the attack, Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard
said on Monday.

Eleven dogs swarmed the boy after he fell. Zookeepers rushed
to the exhibit area housing the animals, firing darts to
frighten them away from the child before police arrived.

Zoo staff secured 10 of the dogs but police entered the pit
and fired multiple gunshots to kill the last dog, which was
particularly aggressive toward the child and the officers,
authorities said.

African painted dogs are endangered and native to
sub-Saharan Africa, according to the National Geographic
website.

The animals have an average size of just over 2 feet to 3.5
feet (0.6 meters to 1 meter). They are also known as Cape
hunting dogs or painted dogs because of their mottled coats with
patches of red, black, brown, white and yellow fur.


So, apparently there's a bit of outrage that they killed one of the dogs. So, I was wondering what you people think of it?

My opinion is, even though it's endangered, I think it was justified because even though the little boy was mauled and honestly had no chance, I think they wanted to still try to save him, if at all possible and to get to him, they needed to get rid of the dog because he was being the most aggressive. Obviously this dog was just acting on instinct, as it IS a wild animal, but they couldn't just sit there and let the dog eat the kid, even if it was too late.

Also, what do you think about the mother standing the kid up on the railing? I can understand picking up your child to let him see, but to stand him on the railing? That was stupid as fuck. Plain and simple.