Boy, 2, Dies After Falling Into Wild Dogs Exhibit At Pittsburgh Zoo

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Nov 5, 2012 4:20PM

A 2-year-old boy was mauled to death by African painted dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium on Sunday after he fell into the exhibit. Police say the boy's mother had placed the child standing on top of the wooden railing overlooking the exhibit.

"Almost immediately after that he lost his balance, fell down off the railing into the actual pit and he was immediately attacked by 11 dogs," Pittsburgh police Major Crimes Lt. Kevin Kraus told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Zoo personnel responded to the scene immediately, and they were able to lure seven of the 11 dogs away from the boy. "Unfortunately, the dogs were in pack mentality and not responding," the zoo stated. They used other tactics like throwing objects to get three more dogs away. One dog was very aggressive and would not move away from the child. It was shot multiple times and killed by two Pittsburgh police officers.

The wooden railing is four feet high with an inclined wooden ledge at the top. Pittsburgh Zoo President Barbara Baker said the child fell from the observation deck, then off of a mesh barrier that is 11 feet 4 inches above the open African painted dogs exhibit space. Reports say the boy fell about 14 feet, and Baker said it's unclear if the boy died from the fall.

Officials say the dogs were separated from the child within 10 minutes of the boy's fall. One woman described the scene to the Post-Gazette:

As they reached the painted dog exhibit, she saw a small crowd of distressed onlookers. "One woman with a baby in the stroller was screaming that someone needed to do something," Ms. [Angela] Cinti said. She said she could see the little boy's apparently lifeless body lying on the hill inside the exhibit. "There were three dogs: one at his head, one on the left side of his neck and another one down by his leg. ... A [zoo employee] got there and hopped over a fence with a rake and he was banging ... trying to distract the dogs but they wouldn't move," she said.

The boy's name has not been released, and an exact cause of death has not been announced. The boy's parents are in a hospital being treated for shock.