Missouri teen's family sues over tiger attack

[proud2BlibKansan]

BRANSON, Mo. | The family of a Reeds Spring teen who was left paralyzed after a tiger attack last summer has filed suit against the Branson zoo where the attack occurred.

Dakoda Wood lost the use of his arms and legs after being bitten in the neck Aug. 4 by a tiger at Branson Interactive Zoo and Aquarium.

The zoo said the 16-year-old was an intern and had entered the tigers' cage to take a picture of the animals for some zoo customers.

The lawsuit filed in Galena is seeking an undetermined amount of money to pay for Wood's long-term care. The suit accuses the zoo owners of negligence for allowing Wood to enter the cage alone.

An attorney for the zoo owners declined to comment on the suit. Zoo officials have said Wood had been told not to enter the cage by himself.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1111404.html

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Wow - horrible thing for the kid. But if he was told not to go in alone,

well, then it becomes his own damned fault.

It's a goddamn TIGER for fuck's sake.

It might be in a zoo, but it's still a TIGER.

Sheesh.

Stupid ass parents.

[acmavm]

2. I have a 16-year old. He frequently does shit he's told not to do. This is

not unusual. This kid should have been either supervised at all times or not allowed to go into the cages at all.

Damn, the kid is just 16. He made a really stupid mistake.

[taterguy]

8. Maybe he shouldn't have been allowed to work there in the first place then

[acmavm]

13. Maybe. Or maybe they should have supervised him better. I don't know.

[taterguy]

16. I'd like to see his resume

I'm sure he claimed to be very responsible.

Little brat lied and now he wants to sue someone for believing his lie.

[acmavm]

17. You know this?

<snip>

Little brat lied and now he wants to sue someone for believing his lie

<snip>

What a thoroughly reprehensible remark.

[taterguy]

21. The truth is reprehensible?

No wonder our society is so fucked up

[acmavm]

23. How the fuck do you think you know the 'truth'? And we're fucked because

so many no-brainers like you are running around pretending due to your powers of enlightenment and clairvoyance, you are the holder of all truth.

You don't know the whole story any more than I do.

If the day comes when something happens to you or yours because of poor judgement or even blatant stupidity I wonder how you'll take it when some smarmy fuck on a political board calls you (or yours) a fucking brat and infers he has it coming.

I am now going to do something I swore I would never do and this is to use the ignore function. You are beneath contempt.

[taterguy]

24. With those anger issues I'm sure you're an ideal parent

Something goes wrong?

Just hit the Ignore button.

Works for me.

[geek tragedy]

10. His mistake is not their fault.

At least his stupidity won't be passed on to the next generation.

[acmavm]

12. 'At least his stupidity won't be passed on to the next generation'

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

The original stupidity lies with the zoo for letting a 16-year old have access to a tiger's cage without supervision. They didn't know that he would go in there. But then again, he is 16 and they didn't know that he wouldn't.

You must have been a perfect 16-year old. You should be held up as an example for all kids to follow.

[geek tragedy]

27. Well, I was smart enough to know that a tiger

could kill me.

Natural selection works, if given a chance.

[kestrel91316]

3. I don't hire anyone under 18 to work in my cat hospital, and I just

do little ol' domestic kitties. If you are under 18 you cannot handle your very own cat in my exam room. Only adults over 18 are allowed to handle my patients. This is just common sense liability management.

Domestic cats can dole out a life- and career-altering injury in a heartbeat. I can't imagine the damage a tiger could do, and just as quick. These people should not have had any minors working there at all. Insane.

[tomreedtoon]

4. Keep in mind: what is Branson?

I've never been there, but I've heard a lot from my relatives in Missouri. It's basically a small town that is trying to imitate Las Vegas or Disney World. Except, unlike those places, they're basically using local talent, instead of searching nationwide for the best and most qualified people. (Who might demand real salaries, benefits and safety equipment.)

I got a "hint" of what Branson would be when I used to go to Six Flags over Mid-America (now Six Flags St. Louis), located in the poverty-blasted area of Eureka, MO. The park violated health codes (pouring drinks outdoors from pitchers instead of using sealed, sanitary dispensers) and had teens running rides without a lot of training.

Even Disney has been known to throw employees or "cast members" into perilous situations, where they get mangled and killed. What must it be like in places even farther out of the public spotlight?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I live near Branson

and only drive through it--avoid the "shows" and all that. It was a charming little town at one time, but has been overgrown for years. Besides the "local talent" you describe, you have Bobby Vinton, Andy Williams, and the Dick Clark Theater--so there are some nationally known "stars" there.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. There are lots of national acts in Branson

Andy Williams lives there and has a couple venues in town.

Even so, it's not my favorite vacation spot.

[tomreedtoon]

28. Well, their "names" are on the clubs. Not much else.

Branson might as well be renamed "Brand Some." As they always post on the Dangerfield's comedy club in New York, "Rodney Dangerfield does not always perform every night." They still do this, even though he's dead.

I hate to use the term "aging acts," but Andy Williams, Dolly Parton and the like aren't spring chickens any more. And the reason they built showplaces in Branson was not to have a place to perform, but a place to milk their fame with lower-price acts similar to their own. Here in Orlando, we had a "Dolly Parton" attraction, where her only participation was in video stuff shown in the showplace and in TV ads. Closed after two and a half years, thank God, when people realized what a ripoff it was.

As far as the original post; I couldn't help but think of the scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 where a woman was working state-required minimum wage jobs at Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" mall food joint. Her need to work two or three jobs left her young son unsupervised, and he killed a young girl at his school with a pistol he found. Moore tracked down Dick Clark and asked him about the thing, and he got away as fast as his limo could take him.

What's true of AIG executives, Bush Administration people and Dow Chemical toxic waste disposal people is also true of celebrities "branding" things with their name to make money. They all say "It's not my fault." Their names above the door are a promise of something, but when it comes time to redeem that promise, suddenly it turns to smoke.

[theoldman]

6. It is stupid to hire a sixteen year old kid to work around dangerous animals.

I would even be concerned with an eighteen year old kid. Their brains are not totally matured, that is why we use them in combat. You can tell a kid to charge into gunfire but a 40 years old will tell you to screw yourself.

[Cid_B]

7. This reminds me of those two stoner kids..

who were taunting the tiger in CA and it got loose and killed one.

"Financial terms of the payment to the San Jose family were undisclosed, but attorney Michael Cardoza said the zoo agreed to erect and maintain a bench in memory of Carlos Sousa Jr. as part of the settlement"

Here lies a memorial to stupidity....

http://cbs5.com/local/zoo.tiger.attack.2.935130.html

[TexasObserver]

9. Putting any 16 year old where he can even access tigers is gross negligence.

[NorthernSpy]

14. He was told not to go into the cage!

The kid was sixteen, not six. A few months later on his seventeenth birthday, he could've joined the army with parental permission.

I wouldn't have thought that it would even have been necessary to specifically warn a person of his age to stay away from such a dangerous animal.

[marshall]

19. I would need to know more about the case before making a judgment

On the surface I would say it is the young man's fault for not following directions--but I would want to know how extensive his training was, under what cirumstances he was allowed to go in the cage with somebody else, how much supervision he was under, and if he had ready access to the keys or had to circumvent security to get them. Also I would like to know who the people are he was taking the photos for. The article just says they are customers, but were they also friends of his? I wonder if friends were taking advantage of him by pressing him to violate rules to get a photo for them.

And the family is asking for "reasonable" damages, they aren't in it for a huge payola. They may just be hoping to get money from the insurance company.

[TexasObserver]

20. It doesn't matter. As I said, putting a child in a position to access tigers is gross negligence.

Warning or not, it's prima facie negligence to put a child in charge of or with unsupervised access to a tiger. Depending on the state, there may be strict liability for the harm to the child.

Any person who owns a wild animal, particularly one capable of inflicting death upon a human quickly, has a duty to prevent harm to EVERYONE, including any employee, vistor, or such. The mere act of allowing a 16 year old access without supervision to a large cat is grossly negligent.

[depakid]

22. Tell me THAT wasn't eminently foreseeable

Hope the zoo has adequate coverage. (probably not- if they did they would have settled the case quietly, rather than continue to suffer bad PR).

[LisaL]

15. Paralyzed? Poor kid.

[Cirque du So-What]

18. In Missouri, youths under the age of 18 cannot work where the following are required:

* Manufacturing and storing explosives.
* Motor-vehicle driving and outside helper.
* Coal mining.
* Logging and saw milling.
* Power-driven woodworking machines.
* Exposure to radioactive substances.
* Power-driven hoisting apparatus.
* Power-driven metal forming, punching and shearing machines.
* Mining, other than coal mining.
* Slaughtering, meat-packing, processing or rendering.
* Power-driven bakery machines.
* Power-driven paper products machines.
* Manufacturing brick, tile and kindred products.
* Power-driven circular saws, band saws and guillotine shears
* Wrecking, demolition and shipbreaking operations.
* Roofing operations.
* Excavation operations.
http://www.dolir.mo.gov/ls/childlabor/federal_child_labor_law.htm

Does the state need to amend the law to include tigers?!?

[Lyric]

25. When I was sixteen, I worked in a turkey factory.

We were "told" not to run the dangerous machine called the Skinner/Deboner. At least, officially. Unofficially, we were fully expected to run that machine if we were short on manpower for the evening, taking care to dart away in the event of an unannounced OSHA inspection. We were also "told" not to use the electrical knives, officially. In reality, we ran the knives all the time. If someone tried to use age as an excuse not to do it, then you can guarantee that said person wouldn't be getting a raise next time around, and would be stuck on the shittiest, nastiest, most miserable jobs on the line.

Just because the zoo is claiming that he was "told" not to go in alone, doesn't mean that he was actually EXPECTED to never, ever go in alone. Companies quite often "officially" tell younger workers not to do things--and then expect them to do precisely those same things as soon as Big Brother Government Inspector isn't watching.

[LisaL]

26. Good point.

Was this the first time the boy went into the cage alone, or did he do the same thing before?

[cornermouse]

29. A couple of things.

And I want to make sure you understand this is not directed at you proud2B.

I just wanted to thank all of you for allowing a snapshot of the new DU, in that a teen foolish enough to walk into a tiger cage is more important and discussion worthy than women and their children getting the tar beat out of them on a regular basis without any local place to escape from their abuser. Basically I put this out here in the hopes that someone in Missouri (who knows if they've done the same in other states?) would try to do something to change what has gone on with little or no publicity. Stuff like this is what drove me away from the republican party back in the Reagan era.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. I don't know that anyone cares more about this story

It's a diversion. So for just a few minutes you don't have to think about the battered women and children and all the other ugly things out there. Just a diversion.

[TexasObserver]

31. That's an entirely false premise.

Your premise is invalid. It assumes that simply because people discuss this topic, they don't care about other topics. You wrongly conclude that this is not a worthy topic. It is worthy of discussion. A child was allowed to have access to a dangerous animal, and now he's in peril. Some of us care about children, even the ones for whom you have disdain.

If you don't care for the topic USE YOUR HIDE THREAD FEATURE!