Attorneys: Zoo warned about dog exhibit before fatal mauling

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Safety Committee warned zoo officials at least four times about safety concerns at the African painted dogs exhibit years before the wild animals fatally mauled a toddler there, attorneys for the child's family said in a court document filed this week.

This article was written by Adam Brandolph, who is a staff writer for Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.

According to the document filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, the zoo's safety committee met monthly to discuss safety-related issues at the Highland Park facility. They would report concerns raised at their meetings to high-ranking zoo officials, including Dr. Barbara Baker, the zoo's president and CEO, and Amos Morris, the zoo's former curator of mammals.

On Aug. 16, 2006, the committee reported that the “wild dog exhibit has one side of the exhibit that is open and a visitor was seen dangling a child over the exhibit through the opening,” according to the excerpt of the meeting minutes.

On Feb. 2, 2007, the safety committee reported “a docent saw a person holding a child through the open side of the wild dog exhibit deck trying to bring the dogs over. A pane of Plexiglas may have to be installed. A lot of things are dropped in the exhibit and cannot be retrieved because the dogs are unwilling to leave exhibit. Amos will be asked about his advice on this matter.”

On May 31 of that same year, the committee reported “guests are dangling children over the rail at the wild dog exhibit.”

A month later, the committee reported “children hanging over ledge” and recommended “extra consideration for housing wild dogs could be considered when requesting new funding.”

The filing says the zoo made no attempts to make any changes to the exhibit between the time the committee raised concerns and Nov. 4 when 2-year-old Maddox Derkosh fell 14 feet from his mother's arms into the enclosure and died after being mauled.

Tracy Gray, the public and media relations manager for the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium released the following statement Wednesday:

"The filing is part of the continuing legal process. The Pittsburgh Zoo has a very active safety committee. The committee is state certified and reviews all areas of the park. After careful inspection it was determined that the exhibit continuously exceeded the safety requirements mandated by the USDA and AZA."

Maddox's parents, Elizabeth and Jason Derkosh, of Whitehall filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the zoo in May alleging the zoo “blatantly ignored” a warning from an employee about the potential danger the wild dog exhibit posed to youngsters hoisted by their parents onto or over the exhibit's railing. The Derkosh family did not return calls for comment. The family's attorney, Robert Mongeluzzi, was unavailable.

In their complaint, the Derkoshes acknowledged that Elizabeth Derkosh lifted her son to get a better look at the exhibit when the boy lurched forward and fell onto a mesh net and bounced into the pen.

Zookeepers rushed to save the boy, but it was too dangerous for them to enter the yard. One especially aggressive dog was fatally shot.

An autopsy report revealed Maddox survived the fall but had no chance against the 11 dogs and bled to death. His was the first visitor death in the zoo's 114-year history.

Last month, attorneys for the zoo said Elizabeth Derkosh, 34, was at fault for lifting her son when she knew he could fall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected the exhibit 35 times since it opened in 2006, zoo officials have said. Inspectors did not raise concerns about the enclosure during their visits.

Following Maddox's death, the zoo placed the dogs in quarantine for 30 days, closed the exhibit and removed the observation deck from which the boy fell. In June, it installed a new exhibit featuring a cheetah.

WPXI