You’re not going to convince anyone that what this kid did was normal. No one here thinks the kid should go to jail i don’t think. He is severely disturbed, needs help, and it is sad. There is a big difference between a kid killing animals out of curiosity, and killing animals to get satisfaction out of their suffering. Feeding an animal to another animal is fascinating to many because it is fascinating to watch nature at work. Anyone who feeds an animal to another so they can see it suffer is sick. It is not normal, not in China, as you say, or in 3rd world countries. It may be more prevalent there,but it is not normal. and it is not something that needs to be taught. It is evidence that a vital element of humanity, compassion, is missing. And since you said you see no difference between bludgeoning animals to death purely for amusement, and petty vandalism, then obviously you’re missing it too.
This behavior is absolutely, chillingly, an extreme risk factor for later serious antisocial outcomes. There is no doubt about that. A seven year old is certainly capable not only of knowing right from wrong, but also having an at least rudimentary sense of empathy regarding the suffering of animals.
Hm, I would think that torturing animals isn’t a good sign, but I think sailor’s right in that we don’t really know enough. What if the kid had been reading about knights and such and thought he was saving the town from lizard attack. Or what if he was pissed at his parents’ divorce, and they’d been talking up the zoo recently and he thought he was getting back at them. I admit the behavior is a bit troublesome, because I would hope a 7-yr old would know better, but reptiles are a little different to a kid than fluffy cats or dogs. I didn’t know that almost all the snakes I ran into were largely harmless, and might have killed some to “protect myself” if they hadn’t run away.
I think some reasons need to be examined, but I’m not ready to claim “serial killer” because of what’s described. And to whoever mentioned it, this is different than hunting.
Do those trying to mitigate this child’s actions believe this is likely to have been his first experiment with animals? I’m sure close study of the footage should be able to determine a little of whether the child was acting out of curiosity or glee. My bet is that the horrible little twat was chuckling his head off.
What broomcloset was the child raised in that that could’ve been his first experience with animals?
Kids are drawn to animals like flies to ice cream.
Or future president!
I’d say help the kid and punish the parents/guardians. Haven’t read the details, but they should have been looking for him by 30 min later, even if they (doubtfully) have some good excuse for him being on his own in the first place. And beyond the lack of supervision, there’s the lack of parenting that lets a kid do shit like that…
Torturing animals, particularly in the extensive manner described here, is in and of itself a huge risk marker. It DOES NOT mean that he will end up being a serial killer, but it is an extremely bad sign regarding persisting antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood. Combine that with the apparent lack of supervision going on, and it only gets worse.
Guards, hell…where were the parents or even the other visitors to the zoo? Was the zoo that deserted that no one saw what this kid was doing?
One of the articles said his rampage happened between 8-8:30 am, and that he entered the zoo by climbing the fence, so I assume it was closed at the time.
I’m not exactly sure if you are referring to my post, but note that I said ‘experiment’, not ‘experience’, if you was.
I thought it was a typo, I couldn’t understand why you said “experiment”. Little kids “experiment” with everything they touch, if you want to look at it that way.
Our school had two different kids that liked to torture animals. They were several years apart in age and weren’t friends. Both are now in prison, one for kidnapping, one for rape. That’s my limited experience.
You know, if the kid had been to the zoo previously I can almost, ALMOST see why he’d feed other lizards to the croc. They make a big deal of croc feeding shows in the top end (see Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo for an example), and I can see how a kid would think that was cool and want to emulate it.
But the kid didn’t just pull some tails and throw a single lizard in the croc pond. He also bludgeoned several other lizards to death with rocks. And yeah, lizards aren’t going to give you “puppy dog eyes” and tug those heartstrings quite so much. But I can’t fathom that it was just normal kiddie curiosity that led him to beat the animals to death with rocks.
Is the torture from the word “bludgeoned” in the article, or from throwing the reptiles to the crocodile? I don’t see how either of those is “extensive.”
I’m not trying to say that this is a good sign. I’m just saying we don’t know where exactly his behavior came from. Counseling would be a good idea, but we haven’t yet determined whether it came from sadistic tendencies or from a disconnect with reality. Neither of these is good, but one is certainly a worse sign than the other. Maybe he’s just not very bright, and is a couple years intellectually behind 7.
Because when kids ‘experiment’ with things beyond the sight of adults, and possible reprimand, it is usually because they have a vague concept that what they are doing is wrong. I’d wager my life this isn’t the first time this kid has been cruel to animals, and if any neighbours have had pets go missing recently…well, now they have a good idea where. The childs parents should be sued for lack of adequate supervision of a minor, and the child should be closely monitored for the rest of his life. Preferably not by his parents.
No, extensive in the sense that the child bludgeoned animals and threw them to an alligator, killing 13 animals over a 30 minute period. That’s extensive.
Intellect or cognitive development has nothing to do with interpersonal callousness, or callous-unemotional traits, whichever terms you prefer. Mentally retarded kids, for example, are not more likely to be violent kids, are they? (No, of course they are not.)
A “disconnect from reality”, in the sense of a formal thought disorder like schizophrenia would be exceptionally early at the age of 7, and is very, very unlikely to be the explanation here.
The child’s killing of the reptiles was bad enough. But this kid may well have another bigger problem – a non-functional fear response. He was prepared to scale the crocodile pit walls? That part of the story gave me pause.
The reports I saw all mentioned that the kid was seen laughing and gleeful while he was killing so this clearly was more of a ‘thrill kill’ situation and not some missplaced rage issue. I am another parnet whose 4-year old fully understands that hurting animals is wrong. Not just pets, but even animals in the wild or zoo.
At 7 this kid should have known what he was doing was wrong, so the kid has empathy issues from somewhere and it is better that it was found out now then allowing his issues to progress further.
I grew up in an area where hunting was common and had friends who used birds and squirrels as target practice. Some people honestly find killing animals fun, and it’s not limited to children either.
I have a hard time seeing this as anything more than a child who was able to get away with something that he felt like doing.
The parents need to certainly be held accountable. The kid needs help, but I’m not sure I see serial killer here. In order to fit the serial killer modus operandi he’d have to wet his bed well into his teens, have an uncomfortably close relationship with mom as well as consistently torturing animals (not just kill them).