A wolf was euthanized after biting 4-year-old patron in a zoo.
A trip to the zoo should be a fun learning experience for kids, despite the argument that zoos should be abolished and animals, not to mention wild and endangered ones, shouldn’t be kept in captivity in the first place.
Well, a family, along with a batch of visitors, learned just how wrong it is for animals to be held captive – especially when you stick your fingers through a chain-link fence separating onlookers from wildlife that’s not really accustomed to human interaction.
It was at the Menominee Park Zoo in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where a four-year-old child was bitten by a wolf after he put his fingers through the chain fence housing a group of wild animals.
Slipping by zoo officials and going through an off-limits area after a Menominee Park Zoo employee inadvertently left a gate open, some visitors managed to get up close and personal to the wolves, so much so that the child, who was also part of the rogue guests, got an experience that he will never soon forget. Reportedly, a 12-year-old wolf named Rebel, who happens to be the alpha of his four-sibling pack, nipped his hand – probably curious of their new four-year-old visitor.
The child was treated after suffering minor puncture wounds. The wolf who bit him, however, wasn’t so lucky after the Division of Public Health (DPH) got in on the mess.
According to the DPH, Rebel is a rabies threat because rabies vaccine hasn’t been proven effective to wolves yet. According to Spencer Wilhelm, operations manager for the Wolf Conservation Center, vaccines for wolves hasn’t been studied yet due to the fact that nobody wants to kill wolves and fulfill the requisite number needed for research.
The Division of Public Health then gave the child’s parents two options – either give their child preventive rabies shots or decline and just have Rebel euthanized and be tested for rabies. They chose the latter. And although the unfortunate wolf ended up negative for any semblance of rabies, it was too late.
Was it right to euthanize Rebel? Let us know in the comments below and share this news.
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Why is it so hard for people to look after their children? These animals always have to pay for other people’s idiotic mistakes and It just isn’t fair. They shouldn’t even be locked up in the first place, it isn’t natural, and in many cases it’s abuse. Some would argue that they are just trying to ‘preserve’ the species but if we weren’t destroying their homes we wouldn’t have these problems in the first place, we’re meant to live alongside animals, not keep them in cages for idiots to gawk at.
This is horrendous. The parents shouldn’t have been given that choice. It was their fault the kid got bit. The wolf wasn’t in the wrong, the neglectful parents were.
Keep performing tests on animals and when You succeed, You won’t find any animal to hurt you leaving the medicine of NO USE..!!!
This poor animal had to suffer beacause an irresponsible parent couldn’t watch there kid bring social services in
The parents take their kid into an off limits area, then they allow him to stick his fingers through the fence, the kid gets what amounts to a scratch and then they allow these irresponsible, trespassing people to decide this innocent wolf should be murdered!!!! Zoos need to be closed and the animals in them need to be reintroduced into the wild. What if, someday we find out that we are not alone & “they” put us in zoos and gawk, torment, tease, poke, etc at us???? How would you like to have your baby taken from you, never to be seen again, so it can be experimented on and/or locked in cage? I am really getting sick of these zoos!!!! Their MAIN responsibility, if they are going to exist, should be the protection of the animals they have imprisoned!!!! STOP KILLING THESE ANIMALS!!!!!
If an animal gets a taste of human flesh, it has to be put down…plain and simple
You’re an idiot.
He got put down because stupid parents let their child get bite and then so it doesn’t get rabies, not very likely, it was euthanize the wolf or treat the child for rabies. By the way the wolf didn’t have rabies, the child we don’t know
lmao, Chris your a tool, so because we have a taste for cow’s flesh we should be put down too then by your logic. the hole once they taste man’s flesh line is antiquated and invalid. educate yourselves people before its too late. except you Chris, you can just go in a corner somewhere and die.
So sad!! The poor wolf end it up paying for the parents mistake!! They should be in jail for trespassing and endangered their child!!! And I think it was a total mistake to give them that option, the right one was to give the kid the vaccine either they like it or not! Nobody told them to go to a off-limit area and also they weren’t paying attention to their kid!! But now is to late!! The wolf already pay the price for their careless estupidity!!!!
Absolutely wrong to have taken the life of that wolf.
Why is it wild animals always pay the price …parents need to watch there kids and have respect for animals especially wild ones….they didnt choose to be in captivity ffs.. poor wolf 🙁 🙁 r.i.p
Heck no they should have not killed this wolf I could see if the wolf was free and attacking the child but this was just plain stupid! I think people need to just boycott all zoo’s until they are forced to return all the animals back where they belong!
The parents are the ones who should be euthanised….damn them!!!
The parents are being animals themselves. Even with those options, they’d still have to give their child a vaccine just in case but nooo they wanted to choose both options. Why? Mostly likely the dad is a hunter and wanted an excuse to kill wolves and get away with it without legal actions. It’s natural for a wolf to nip at something curiously. My half brother’s dog does it and yes sometimes it results in his hand bleeding just a little if he nipped a soft spot, but he’s still a friendly dog and isn’t violent. Playful yes, violent no.
It’s the parent’s fault for letting their kid get that close to the wolf in the first place. All wolf sanctuaries (not sure if zoos too but they should) have a rule where kids of such young age may view the wolves but aren’t allowed to come too close to the fence and DEFINITELY aren’t allowed inside the enclosure. It’s the parent’s responsibility to ensure they and their children follow these rules.