They Got the Wrong Guys

The two black bears at Richmond's Maymont Estate have been euthanized, after one of them escaped from their two-acre habitat, left the surrounding restricted area, climbed a four-foot fence, and then reached through a 10-foot high chain-link fence and bit the hand off a young child.

Wait, no. That's not exactly correct.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

The child entered a restricted area and climbed a four-foot fence to reach the bears' two-acre habitat. The child apparently then put his or her hand through a 10-foot chain-link fence and was bitten.

Maymont officials do not know the identity, age or gender of the child, Brown said. However, they were informed in a closed-door meeting this morning that the skin on the child's right hand had been broken and the rabies test was necessary.

That is, a child (who may not have been so little) was permitted by its parent to go aggressively out of its way to get near enough to one of the bears that "the skin on the child's right hand" was "broken."

Apparently it is unknown which bear "bit" the child, so the brain tissue of both must be examined to determine if they are infected with rabies. This cannot be done on a live animal.

There is some adult involved here who was responsible for this child, and permitted it to run amok. That's our prime candidate for capital punishment.