Whenever you think that people can’t get any more stupid, the world is happy to prove you wrong.
Fortunately for the child, the cat was too severely injured to actually do anything.
I fully expect to see this woman in the news again someday. Such creative stupidity can be only (temporarily) suppressed, not cured.
I heard that one on the news. Try as we might, you can’t fix stupid.
My best wishes go out to her child - may he or she live long enough to escape.
Yeah, but … is the bobcat okay?
Focus on the important stuff, people.
That’s all I wanted to know, too. Unfortunately, in the article the cat was referred to as being mortally wounded, so no, not okay. 
The proximate cause of death was euthanization by a wildlife official after she determined the hind legs were paralyzed.
Don’t know nothing about bobcats. Are they dangerous? Maybe the lady thought it was just a large regular cat.
I don’t know anything about bobcats either. But I wouldn’t put a regular cat, especially if of unknown temperament and clearly injured, in the back of a car with a child - would you?
Nice username/post combo. If any cat knows cats its this cat.
Wait. She found an injured animal and took it to get help. No human was injured or harmed. I would have done the same thing. The only thing I would have done differently is put it in the front seat. As the article states, the bobcat was mortally wounded. If she was able to walk over and pick up a bobcat it might not have even been conscious at the time.
Anyway I think people are being too hard on her. She tried to help an injured animal. There are far worse things to do.
Putting an untethered animal in the front seat seems a bit foolhardy too - for example if it was just unconscious and suddenly woke up, it could attack or at least significantly distract the driver.
I’ll agree with foolhardy. I’ve done many foolhardy things when it comes to animal rescue. I’ve worked with wolves, otters, eagles, huge snakes and even tigers (ok the tigers were adorable cubs but still - tigers!).
Sometimes you hold your breath, work really, really fast, and keep your fingers crossed that they don’t wake up. I’ve been bitten, scratched and even had a bone broken by an animal once.
Wait, maybe I need the Darwin Award 
Darwin Awards are given when one gets oneself killed, or renders oneself incapable of reproduction.
What got bitten? 
This means the lady in the OP doesn’t count since she has already passed her genes on.
Bobcats are a (relatively) small species of lynx; adult males typically weigh about 14-40 lbs (the one in the article weighed 25 lbs), females 9-34 pounds. They are not dangerous in the sense that they will attack you if you go for a walk in the woods, but, like any cat, their claws and teeth can mess you up.
Wild bobcats are, well, wild. If you hand-raised a bobkitten [say you work at a wild animal sanctuary], then, sure, it would make an excellent pet:
Don’t forget the custom raw meat diet, large, escape-proof outdoor enclosure, and specialized veterinary care. They are curious, loving, and affectionate, though!
But she put her kid in a car with a bobcat. That’s trying for a retroactive removal from the gene pool.
Have you ever placed an unconfined and very stressed wild animal in the vicinity of a child?
Could have been a blood clot in its aorta. One of my kitties had that. His hind legs were paralyzed and he lost control of his urinary/bowel functions. Had to be euthanized.