Since when is a gorilla more important that a human?

I support the zookeepers at the Cincinnati Zoo in their decision to put the gorilla down in order to save his life. 

There, I said it.

Furthermore,  I think the parents of the child should not be held responsible for the gorilla's death.

I also said that.

Has your opinion of me changed?

Am I now some sort of "monster" who you "thought you knew"?

All three of those terms were used to describe me by friends of mine who knew me for a number of years.  

Those same friends also castigated me for being "too harsh" when I berated a parent a year ago for leaving her two year old in a hot car a year ago.

So I'm left here saying: WTF???

Why am I supposed to feel sorry for a mother who vapor-locked and forgot the child she carried to term INSIDE HER WOMB,  and then shame zookeepers who were protecting a child from a potentially dangerous animal?

The hypersensitive masses don't know what a silver back gorilla is capable of.  The fact that some of them have actually assisted zookeepers in rescues of others who have fallen into enclosures does not cancel out the fact that they are still wild animals. 

They think they're the robots from the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.   Harmless and able to sing "I wanna be like You" from the Jungle Book.

People have asked why the gorilla couldn't have been tranq'd or tasted instead of put down. 

Well, there are two good reasons why.

Both of which involve pain to the gorilla. 

To tranq something involves shooting it with a dart propelled by a burst of compressed air.  There is also a delay involved between the impact of the dart and the meds taking effect.

So in that situation you have an animal who is hurting and scared with a four year old fragile human being.   Not a good combination.

I have been tased as a matter of training.

It wasn't the dart method that is being used by law enforcement.  My training involved being hit by a stunner shield, which is a riot shield that has electrodes on one side that delivers the electric shock.

The effect is all of your muscles contract at the same time, paralyzing you.

It also hurts like hell. 

Animal hurting and scared, four year old victim...yadda yadda.

The zoo did the right thing. 

Not the popular thing, but the right thing.