This is disgusting and asolutely disturbing, however, blame can easily be handed around to all....
This incident took place on Wednesday between 8:00am - 8:40ish in broad daylight. First, one must ask what a child of that age was doing at a reptile park at that time, when shouldnt he have been in school?? Second, where were the parents and how on earth did they "not notice" their child was missing for over a half an hour!? Third, how the crap did this child so easily gain access to these enclosures with no alarms sounding, no employees noticing, no keys or codes being needed to open doorways??? The child is wrong, the parent's are wrong, and the facility is obviously doing something wrong when it comes to their security.
----It is the second time the reptile centre has had its animals terrorised by young thugs.
In 2004, six teens broke in to the park and used a long-handled pool scoop and a ladder to stab and hit Terry the croc.
The saltie had two of his teeth knocked out and suffered a deep cut to his face.
Mr Neindorf said he would not let this week's "little ratbag" get away without punishment.
"We'll be taking civil action for sure," he said.
"We're sick of kids coming in here and causing destruction and getting away with it.
"It's happened before and it is just not good enough.
"Someone needs to be held responsible."----
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24438933-5001021,00.html
So wait! - This is not some new and shocking incident to them, it's something they have dealt with before?? Then tell me, how come measures were not taken back in 2004 when the teenage group totured the croc? Why were exhibits not modified once it became apparent that security of the animals, and to the public was jeopardized?? Not acceptible in my opinion! The facility needs to step up and take some responsibility for their lack of security, rather than simply b!.ch because it happened to them again. When holding animals such as these it becomes their sole responsibility to ensure that these animals are kept ethically and protected, and that the public is protected from them, otherwise they open themselves up not only of incidences like this, but also civil suits and potential closure of their facility if deemed detrimental to the animals or a hazzard to the public.
----The Northern Territory Government says it is urgently reviewing the care arrangements for a seven-year-old boy who broke into the Alice Springs Reptile Centre and killed more than a dozen animals on Wednesday morning.
Psychologist Chris Hamilton says such behaviour can indicate exposure to violence and disregard in the child's own life.
"There is a correlation between injuring peers and injuring animals and subsequent criminal and violent behaviour as an adult and that's why it is so important to have an extremely comprehensive and monitored intervention now," he said.----
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/03/2381641.htm
Well at least they are acknowlodging the fact that obviously this child could seriously benefit from a psychological evaluation, and a deeper look into his home life. Sure, children are curious by nature, and boys especially can be quite intrigued with wildlife. Putting a magnifying glass over ants, squishing bugs, killing snakes/lizzards, putting salt on a slug, and seeing "beasts" tear into something is a thrill for most little boys.
Though there is always room for debate, and not every child is developmentally equal, the majority of your average seven-year-old children have not reached the state at which they can rationally determine the worth of one life over another, nor take into condsideration things such as pain to the animal; but rather are more into the action & reaction at hand.
Obviously here we were not simply dealing with your garden variety of snakes and lizards or stomping on a snail, but rather with rare and protected animals, not to mention the croc which can be extremely dangerous; but fault can not soley be placed on the child as in order to understand his actions, it might be imperative to first assess his mental awareness of them, his home life, and adolescent history. The parents have a lot to answer for and may be facing civil actions, and though they may not be able to directly charge the child the parent's could potentially face charges of gross negligence, child endangerment and distruction of private property seeing as they are legally responsible for the child and his actions and in court, just to name a few. And they, as the guardians can yes, be called on the carpet for them and punished accordingly.
It is extremely upsetting that this occured and my frustrations span to all involved as this is somthing that could have been avoided with better management and security of the facility, and better supervision and parental guidance of the child. I just hope that this place takes notice and immediately improves their exhibits and security measures across the board and that this child is evaluated and his home life investigated, with the parent's put under the microscope as well.
This incident took place on Wednesday between 8:00am - 8:40ish in broad daylight. First, one must ask what a child of that age was doing at a reptile park at that time, when shouldnt he have been in school?? Second, where were the parents and how on earth did they "not notice" their child was missing for over a half an hour!? Third, how the crap did this child so easily gain access to these enclosures with no alarms sounding, no employees noticing, no keys or codes being needed to open doorways??? The child is wrong, the parent's are wrong, and the facility is obviously doing something wrong when it comes to their security.
----It is the second time the reptile centre has had its animals terrorised by young thugs.
In 2004, six teens broke in to the park and used a long-handled pool scoop and a ladder to stab and hit Terry the croc.
The saltie had two of his teeth knocked out and suffered a deep cut to his face.
Mr Neindorf said he would not let this week's "little ratbag" get away without punishment.
"We'll be taking civil action for sure," he said.
"We're sick of kids coming in here and causing destruction and getting away with it.
"It's happened before and it is just not good enough.
"Someone needs to be held responsible."----
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24438933-5001021,00.html
So wait! - This is not some new and shocking incident to them, it's something they have dealt with before?? Then tell me, how come measures were not taken back in 2004 when the teenage group totured the croc? Why were exhibits not modified once it became apparent that security of the animals, and to the public was jeopardized?? Not acceptible in my opinion! The facility needs to step up and take some responsibility for their lack of security, rather than simply b!.ch because it happened to them again. When holding animals such as these it becomes their sole responsibility to ensure that these animals are kept ethically and protected, and that the public is protected from them, otherwise they open themselves up not only of incidences like this, but also civil suits and potential closure of their facility if deemed detrimental to the animals or a hazzard to the public.
----The Northern Territory Government says it is urgently reviewing the care arrangements for a seven-year-old boy who broke into the Alice Springs Reptile Centre and killed more than a dozen animals on Wednesday morning.
Psychologist Chris Hamilton says such behaviour can indicate exposure to violence and disregard in the child's own life.
"There is a correlation between injuring peers and injuring animals and subsequent criminal and violent behaviour as an adult and that's why it is so important to have an extremely comprehensive and monitored intervention now," he said.----
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/03/2381641.htm
Well at least they are acknowlodging the fact that obviously this child could seriously benefit from a psychological evaluation, and a deeper look into his home life. Sure, children are curious by nature, and boys especially can be quite intrigued with wildlife. Putting a magnifying glass over ants, squishing bugs, killing snakes/lizzards, putting salt on a slug, and seeing "beasts" tear into something is a thrill for most little boys.
Though there is always room for debate, and not every child is developmentally equal, the majority of your average seven-year-old children have not reached the state at which they can rationally determine the worth of one life over another, nor take into condsideration things such as pain to the animal; but rather are more into the action & reaction at hand.
Obviously here we were not simply dealing with your garden variety of snakes and lizards or stomping on a snail, but rather with rare and protected animals, not to mention the croc which can be extremely dangerous; but fault can not soley be placed on the child as in order to understand his actions, it might be imperative to first assess his mental awareness of them, his home life, and adolescent history. The parents have a lot to answer for and may be facing civil actions, and though they may not be able to directly charge the child the parent's could potentially face charges of gross negligence, child endangerment and distruction of private property seeing as they are legally responsible for the child and his actions and in court, just to name a few. And they, as the guardians can yes, be called on the carpet for them and punished accordingly.
It is extremely upsetting that this occured and my frustrations span to all involved as this is somthing that could have been avoided with better management and security of the facility, and better supervision and parental guidance of the child. I just hope that this place takes notice and immediately improves their exhibits and security measures across the board and that this child is evaluated and his home life investigated, with the parent's put under the microscope as well.
