Wow -- I just cannot imagine a 7 year old doing this

[Nestof3]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432085,00.html

 

SYDNEY, Australia — A blank-faced 7-year-old boy broke into a popular Outback zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock, the zoo's director said Friday.

[Laura in VA]

I read that earlier tonight. It is so disturbing.

[Jean in Newcastle]

sounds like the victim of abuse and/or a sociopath.

[Zelda]

*shudder*

[BusyMum]

sounds like the victim of abuse and/or a sociopath.

I read a study once that identified animal cruelty as a child as one of the early indicators of sociopathic/psychopathic behaviour.

 

I was so shocked when I read this article. If I was his parent I would be seriously tempted to feed HIM to the crocodile. Wonder what that says about me? :001_huh:

[pqr]

animal cruelty as a child as one of the early indicators of sociopathic/psychopathic behaviour.

 

I was so shocked when I read this article. If I was his parent I would be seriously tempted to feed HIM to the crocodile. Wonder what that says about me? :001_huh:

 

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/425882/the_link_between_animal_abuse_and_serial.html?cat=47

 

Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz and Jeffrey Dahmer have more in common than just being serial killers. These three murderers are also connected by the fact that each of them tortured and/or killed animals during their childhoods. "Researchers as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies nationwide have linked animal cruelty to domestic violence, child abuse, serial killings and to the recent rash of killings by school age children".

 

Some children are cruel to and torture animals to impress their peers, but future serial killers usually torture animals purely for their own enjoyment. Animal abuse is a recognized sign of a mental disorder. If a child hurts animals it should be a red flag and immediate action should be taken.

 

Jeffrey Dahmer showed an intense interest in dismembering animals as a child.... Dahmer is just one example of this. As a matter of fact, most people who are on death row for murder admit to abusing animals as children.

 

 

The problem is what do you do with him? Can such a creature (yes I used the word deliberately because "child" does not fit) be made safe.

 

 

I do like BusyMum's reaction.

Edited October 4, 2008 by pqr

[unsinkable]

Horrifying!

[Jennifer3141]

He supposedly did this early in the morning. Please tell me this kid wasn't homeschooled!!! Unless the parents live next door to the zoo, where were his parents??

 

Jen

[Michelle T]

I read that article yesterday. First thing I thought of was that just about every serial murderer started off by torturing/killing animals.

 

Sure, a seven year old might do something cruel, usually without truly understanding that it IS cruel. But what that boy did went way beyond anything a typical young child would do. Maybe bashing one lizard, okay, that's bad but a young kid might do that. But a virtual killing spree at the zoo, no, that's not normal. I hope his parents are going to get him some help.

 

I have to admit, my next thought was "Too bad the crocodile didn't get HIM". Guess I'm pretty harsh!

Michelle T

[Miss Sherry]

When my son was about 12 or 13 years old he took animals away from neighbor kids more than once. He took a field mouse away from some teenagers that were older than him. They were giving it to a cat to kill it. He returned the little mouse to the field they had taken it from.

 

Another time he took a frog away from a couple of kids. One had it on the ground and said he was going to run it over with his bike.

 

My daughter was playing with the frog outside that my son had taken away from the deviant neighbors and one of them came over and took it away from her. He took it home and killed it and then brought it back to her. I was very angry with that kid. I told him to get in his house and stay in there.I also told him to tell his parents if they left him home alone again to tell them I would call Family Services. My husband later had a talk with his parents (I wouldn't talk to them because I was so angry at them and their son) and they got someone to come watch him. They had been leaving him home alone.

It was a traumatic incident for my daughter.

[StaceyinLA]

if they were cruel to animals. That is something we just DO NOT do! In fact, a close friend of mine's dd accidentally squeezed my dd's mouse to death when she was about 3 years old. My dd is now 15 and she STILL talks about that. My friend's dd is 14 and she apologized to my dd last year about it again. The girl turned out to be a MAJOR animal lover (mouse incident was not intentional at all), and my dd has finally forgiven her, I think.

 

We're such animal lovers that my 17yodd (when she was about 12) found a litter of baby rats at a friend's barn. The mother was lying dead and the little, hairless babies were all around. We brought home all the surviving ones we found and my dd dropper fed them around the clock. 3 died within a day or two, but one actually made it a full week. Of course, we lost it, but dd tried SO hard to save it, keeping it warm with a heat lamp, etc. It was so sad.

 

I can't even begin to recall everything we have saved around here, but I KNOW I couldn't handle a child who treated animals with any cruelty in the least.

[Aggie]

There are, as stated, a few things wrong with the entire situation.

 

However, what if he just felt like the poor crocodile needed some food? He may have been killing for killing's sake, but he *may* have been just feeding the croc, too. My 7yods doesn't kill animals randomly, but I think he would get a kick out of feeding some large wild croc.

 

And, perhaps, I'm wrong again. :)

 

Aggie

[jojomojo]

There are, as stated, a few things wrong with the entire situation.

 

However, what if he just felt like the poor crocodile needed some food? He may have been killing for killing's sake, but he *may* have been just feeding the croc, too. My 7yods doesn't kill animals randomly, but I think he would get a kick out of feeding some large wild croc.

 

And, perhaps, I'm wrong again. :)

 

Aggie

 

That's possible, but it wouldn't explain bashing lizards to death with a rock :(

[Remudamom]

There are, as stated, a few things wrong with the entire situation.

 

However, what if he just felt like the poor crocodile needed some food? He may have been killing for killing's sake, but he *may* have been just feeding the croc, too. My 7yods doesn't kill animals randomly, but I think he would get a kick out of feeding some large wild croc.

 

And, perhaps, I'm wrong again. :)

 

Aggie

 

 

I believe you're channeling Jane Bennet!

[Aggie]

That's possible, but it wouldn't explain bashing lizards to death with a rock :(

 

But didn't he feed the dead lizards to the gator?

[Aggie]

I believe you're channeling Jane Bennet!

 

Quote from humanscience.wikia.com

 

Jane is the eldest and most beautiful daughter. She gets her beauty from her mother, who being the dominant partner in the marriage places her physical imprint on the first child. Jane lacks energy, strength or depth. She neither has the benefit of her father’s training nor the physical urges of an idiot mother. Her mother’s beauty makes her popular, especially as she had no pronounced mental attitudes that can offend.

 

Only the first sentence! LOL I'll have to ask my dh about my mental attitudes. Stand by for one offensive statement. :)

[Only me]

I can't imagine a 7 year old being capable of that. On the other hand it makes me worried about a few of our neighbor kids. My kids were never into killing animals but a few of the boys on our block are. Is that typical for young boys? They are constantly capturing frogs and then drowning them, hitting them against things, cutting them and just generally being cruel. At times they've tried to catch other animals (rabbits, etc.) but I don't think they were successful. There are 2 boys that are the biggest culprits but at times there are 2 other ones watching. Of course not all of them are going to be serial killers but how do you know when what you are seeing is abnormal?

 

My kids are constantly telling these kids to leave the poor animals alone and at times have let the animals go while the boys weren't looking. At times I've worried about my ds 10 getting caught letting one of the animals loose. One of the culprits is a 10 year old and has serious behavior issues and so does his mom. My kids generally stay away from these kids but two of them live next door. My ds normally isn't allowed to play in their yard so I don't want to let him go in their yard to set the animals free yet on the other hand I feel bad for the way the boys are treating the animals.

[Parrothead]

I hope his parents and the authorities are getting him help. Otherwise we may be reading more about him in the future.

[Lucy in Australia]

I have to wonder what this child has endured in his life. I know parenting isn't always to blame, certainly, but often there is a trauma you know.

 

I'm pretty sure you've hit the nail on the head. Having seen first hand how some of the communities in the area (Central Australia) live, I'd say his parents were too stoned and drunk to even know where he was. And by the age of 7, a lot of those kids have endured abuse most of us wouldn't even begin to imagine.

[sunshine]

I can't imagine a 7 year old being capable of that. On the other hand it makes me worried about a few of our neighbor kids. My kids were never into killing animals but a few of the boys on our block are. Is that typical for young boys? They are constantly capturing frogs and then drowning them, hitting them against things, cutting them and just generally being cruel. At times they've tried to catch other animals (rabbits, etc.) but I don't think they were successful. There are 2 boys that are the biggest culprits but at times there are 2 other ones watching. Of course not all of them are going to be serial killers but how do you know when what you are seeing is abnormal?

 

My kids are constantly telling these kids to leave the poor animals alone and at times have let the animals go while the boys weren't looking. At times I've worried about my ds 10 getting caught letting one of the animals loose. One of the culprits is a 10 year old and has serious behavior issues and so does his mom. My kids generally stay away from these kids but two of them live next door. My ds normally isn't allowed to play in their yard so I don't want to let him go in their yard to set the animals free yet on the other hand I feel bad for the way the boys are treating the animals.

 

 

You have to call Child Services. Right now.That is not normal behavior for it to be an ongoing behavior. I worked with a Child Psychiatrist for 3.5 yrs and animal cruelty was one of the indications of a poor outcome of therapy. In other words they were broken children whose prognosis was not very good without serious intervention and the younger the age the better. 10 is not a young age, so you better call IMMEDIATELY. that goes for all you Moms out there with little animal murderers in your sphere. You could be saving someone's life including the child's. It it never normal curiosity to torture or intentionally kill an animal. It shows a lack of conscience or a scream for help. Get to it.

[Aggie]

I'm pretty sure you've hit the nail on the head. Having seen first hand how some of the communities in the area (Central Australia) live, I'd say his parents were too stoned and drunk to even know where he was. And by the age of 7, a lot of those kids have endured abuse most of us wouldn't even begin to imagine.

 

UGH This is so sad to hear, Lucy. I was hoping that he was more interested in feeding the alligator. :(