A nine-year-old boy went on a killing spree at a petting zoo in The Netherlands, strangling several animals to death.
The Dutch primary school student went to the petting zoo, located in Hoek van Holland, a town in the southwestern corner of the country, on March 11. There, he reportedly killed up to nine rabbits and two guinea pigs.
The nine-year-old had allegedly visited the zoo on multiple occasions with his parents before but made the journey unsupervised that day.
After the violent incident, the animal killer was caught by police, and his parents were called to the scene.
A nine-year-old boy strangled 11 animals to death at a petting zoo in Hoek van Holland in The Netherlands
Image credits: Volodymyr/Adobe Stock
The nine-year-old won’t be prosecuted following the incident because he’s under the age of twelve, but reports have stated that he will be entering a care program, as per The Dailymail.
According to the manager of the petting zoo, the boy “showed no emotion after the act.”
Ali Dorenbos, the manager of the Rekerhout petting zoo in Alkmaar, reacted to the brutal attack. “It makes you completely sick!” she told De Telegraaf.
Dorenbos experienced a similar situation at her petting zoo, located in the province of North Holland.
“The sheep were shot with bows and arrows, their udders were pulled, and the goats were shaken by their horns,” she recalled before adding that calves and chickens also suffered animal abuse.
The primary school student allegedly visited the zoo with his parents in the past, but this time, he was unsupervised
“Horrible. How? This is very extreme. And was there no supervision?” asked Anne-Marie Le Buhan of the Het Geitenweitje Foundation in Laren, North Holland.
“I feel sorry for the animals, but also for the little boy who apparently feels so bad that he has to do this,” said Dutch Psychiatrist Esther van Fenema.
As van Fenema explained, parents need to pay attention to this type of violent act. Animal maltreatment or abuse can be a “worrying sign of behavioral disorder[s] in children” that could bring more profound consequences in the future.
According to the petting zoo manager, the boy “showed no emotion after the act”
The animal killer was placed in a care program following the attack
Dr. Lim Boon Leng, a psychiatrist from Dr. BL Lim Centre for Psychological Wellness, said that the concerning behavior “might be indicative of underlying emotional distress and may be a reflection of the child’s difficult or abusive environment.
“Addressing the incident allows for an opportunity to educate the child (to understand) right from wrong in the very least,” he added.
“Leaving the incidents alone is detrimental to the child and may result in the behaviors escalating.”
This is particularly true when the child has the cognitive maturity to understand that they’re inflicting pain on the animal, and yet, they repeatedly do it anyway, notes Psychology Today. In those cases, professional intervention from a mental health expert is needed.
Many people stressed the importance of paying attention to these criminal acts for their potential consequences in the future
