Althouse: California lady who jumped a 3-foot fence at the Madison zoo and got kicked in the face by a giraffe doesn't think she should have to pay the $686 fine for harassing a zoo animal.

August 20, 2014

California lady who jumped a 3-foot fence at the Madison zoo and got kicked in the face by a giraffe doesn't think she should have to pay the $686 fine for harassing a zoo animal.

Amanda Hall says: "I got hit in the face by a giraffe... I had to deal with all that. That was a lot of pain to deal with already. I don’t need a fine and this on my record. I don’t 'harass' zoo animals. I’m an animal lover.... Obviously I won’t do it again... [The fence is] there for a reason. I just didn’t think twice about it. I just didn’t think it was a big deal."

So, she didn't think it was a big deal to climb into the giraffe enclosure, but a kick in the head that required "about 10 stitches" taught her a lesson, and now she doesn't see the reason for the $686 fine for harassing a zoo animal. She doesn't think it should be said that she harassed a zoo animal because she loves animals. This is someone who has a really hard time understanding the rules and how they apply to everyone. She needed a kick in the head to understand the reason for the fence, and she needs the $686 fine to understand that harassment of an animal isn't about your point of view. You did what you did to the animal and the fact that you had love in your heart is irrelevant. And we need her to pay the $686 fine to demonstrate that penalties apply equality and being (or posing as) a nice lady doesn't get you special treatment.

I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why?

85 comments:

Michael K said...: She is from California and so doesn't need to obey rules.; 8/20/14, 8:42 AM
AustinRoth said...: "I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why? "

To goad Crack into another stupid racist rant??; 8/20/14, 8:44 AM
Ambrose said...: "[The fence is] there for a reason. I just didn’t think twice about it. I just didn’t think it was a big deal."

She thought the zoo would say - Don't think twice, it's alright."; 8/20/14, 8:45 AM
gspencer said...: Just went to my Sympathy Cubbard.

It is absolutely, like totally, bare.; 8/20/14, 8:45 AM
MayBee said...: Could Werner Herzog make Giraffe Woman into a compelling documentary?; 8/20/14, 8:47 AM
JackWayne said...: Your tag should be #waronwomen.; 8/20/14, 8:47 AM
Rae said...: The zoo needs higher fences. And this woman is a special snowflake.; 8/20/14, 8:50 AM
Skipper said...: But I thought love conquers all.; 8/20/14, 8:51 AM
rhhardin said...: I'd complain about the word. She isn't harassing the animal.; 8/20/14, 8:53 AM
rhhardin said...: In San Francisco, the tigers are held in by the honor system.; 8/20/14, 8:54 AM
MayBee said...: I'm not sure if this is why you put the racial profiling tag on the post, but I knew she'd be white before I even clicked through. She was younger than I thought she'd be, though.; 8/20/14, 8:56 AM
Matt Sablan said...: No giraffe, no peace.; 8/20/14, 8:56 AM
Saint Croix said...: Baby just wanted to touch the giraffe. I get it, baby. I get you.; 8/20/14, 8:57 AM
Saint Croix said...: I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why?

You wanted us to click on the link so that we would see how beautiful she is and learn some kinda lesson.

What was the question again? Do you have her phone number?; 8/20/14, 8:57 AM
Oso Negro said...: Ha ha ha. The rules apply equally to everyone. Except, of course, when they don't. The border crossing rules apply to white flying from Europe, for example, but not to Mexicans and Central Americans crossing over from Mexico. I eagerly away the post describing the need for the immigration laws to apply to everyone.; 8/20/14, 9:02 AM
Expat(ish) said...: I reminded my daughter, again, that some people only learn to leave you alone after you punch them in the nose.

Apparently that need does not stop in high school.

_XC; 8/20/14, 9:03 AM
Heartless Aztec said...: SWPL@racialprofiling.org

I just made that up...but still.; 8/20/14, 9:04 AM
Saint Croix said...: I don't know why they're saying those bad things about you, baby. They're jealous of your passion and your beauty and your scofflaw ways. And I do not think you are guilty of harassing a zoo animal. Everybody knows it's an objective giraffe standard, and that giraffe was irrational. Don't let them put that mean giraffe on your record.; 8/20/14, 9:05 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: We're paying for your school lunches, you can pay for our animal harassment tickets.; 8/20/14, 9:09 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: AS long as the woman is hot, it's not really harassment.; 8/20/14, 9:09 AM
Peter said...: It's kid logic: she said she was sorry, already!; 8/20/14, 9:10 AM
MadisonMan said...: She was younger than I thought she'd be, though.

Same here. I was expecting a middle-aged overweight woman with frizzy hair.; 8/20/14, 9:10 AM
Anonymous said...: 'Cat is Out of the Bag, Man' Guy says:

The cat is out of the bag, man! We're ALL getting kicked in the head, we're all getting kicked in the head over and over again and we're just takin' it, man, we're just takin' it! You think Andrew Jackson would just take it? Sometimes you gotta shoot the giraffe, people! Shit-house rat time, you hear? The cat is out of the bag, man!; 8/20/14, 9:11 AM
Meade said...: rhhardin said...
"I'd complain about the word. She isn't harassing the animal."

True, but she is raping it.; 8/20/14, 9:14 AM
The Drill SGT said...: "I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why? "

She's a blonde who harassed an African male?

Just because he's African, big and strong, and handsome. Nice legs also.

Definite Hate crime...

I want it on the record that she is a SOCAL beach bimbo though; 8/20/14, 9:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Because in your heart, you see everything through the prism of race.

That is why you immediately assumed incorrectly that the candidate for the job at the Florida law school was shut down because he said something offensive dealing with race.

That is why you voted for Obama.; 8/20/14, 9:16 AM
Tibore said...: "... she needs the $686 fine to understand that harassment of an animal isn't about your point of view. You did what you did to the animal and the fact that you had love in your heart is irrelevant. And we need her to pay the $686 fine to demonstrate that penalties apply equality and being (or posing as) a nice lady doesn't get you special treatment."

Spot on, Professor. Spot ON.

I have to admit, I had a crueler reason for wanting her to pay the entire fine: All I could think of when reading her defense was just how annoyingly self absorbed she was. And all I felt afterwards was that she needed the fine just as a face-slap to bring her to some semblance of sensibility.

And as far as "racial profiling" goes: Yeah, if Stuff White People Like were still active, she'd have her very own article. She comes off as so oblivious she's practically a cliché. How much of that is lazy pigeonholing by the news reports vs. her being her genuine self is not 100% apparent at this time, but her statement makes it seem as though a lot of it is very much her genuine self coming through.; 8/20/14, 9:17 AM
chillblaine said...: It's racial because the pretty white lady with blonde hair needs to check her privilege and besides everybody knows she got the money.; 8/20/14, 9:18 AM
MayBee said...: Yes! Madison Man! LOL, we both expected the same woman.

#hairprofiling; 8/20/14, 9:24 AM
Saint Croix said...: I once climbed over a fence on a bridge to chase all the quacking ducks off a little island because they were pissing me off with all their damn quacking. And I was intoxicated. And then I was trapped on the island because while I could climb the fence one way, it was way more difficult climbing the fence from the other side. That damn fence was irregular.

And then the park night watchman or groundskeeper or some old guy saw me on duck island and started running to call the police. So I had to jump into the pond fully clothed and swim for it. And then I had to walk a mile in wet clothes. So that was my lesson.

Baby, baby, I wasn't hurting the ducks. Don't cry baby. I love ducks. I was intoxicated. They jumped into the pond. They like the pond. Baby, don't leave me! I just wanted to share! Damn it.; 8/20/14, 9:24 AM
CStanley said...: I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why?

No.; 8/20/14, 9:25 AM
MayBee said...: I want it on the record that she is a SOCAL beach bimbo though

No way. SLO is Central Cal.
SOCAL ends at Santa Barbara.; 8/20/14, 9:26 AM
Anonymous said...: 'Cat is Out of the Bag, Man' Guy says:

The cat is out of the bag, man! The giraffe MEANS something, man! It ain't just a giraffe, it's the bears and gorillas and tigers and sharks, it's the MAN -- it's all coming down! It's time to Eat the Meat, people! Shit-house rat time, you hear? The cat is out of the bag, man!; 8/20/14, 9:31 AM
Anonymous said...: 'Cat is Out of the Bag, Man' Guy says:

The cat is out of the bag, man! You know what George Washington would do? You know what George Washington would do if he got kicked in the head? He'd kick you in the balls, man, and then run a bayonet through your shit! Bayonet, man, that's how it's done! Shit-house rat time, you hear? The cat is out of the bag, man!; 8/20/14, 9:33 AM
Big Mike said...: I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why?

No, but I long ago gave up on trying to follow the illogic of a Wisconsin liberal's thought processes.

BTW, tell giraffe lady that if the animal had killed her it would have had to be put down and it would be entirely her fault. (Doesn't have to be true, merely plausible.); 8/20/14, 9:33 AM
SGT Ted said...: boohoo, I am an entitled idiot, so treat me special, because "animal lover".

This is the results of fetishizing animals as cutesy, cuddly fur babies. She thought she could jump in there and pet the giraffe and it would be ok.

Maybe she could plea out a deal where she has to spend 686 dollars on therapy to get her head on straight.; 8/20/14, 9:34 AM
Anonymous said...: 'Cat is Out of the Bag, Man' Guy says:

The cat is out of the bag, man! You know what Ben Franklin would do? You know what Benjamin Franklin would do if he got kicked in the head? He'd tie a key on the tail of a kite and electrocute some ass, THAT's what he would do! He'd Bring the Lightning like God in a White Wig, real Revolution stuff! Zap that shit! Shit-house rat time, you hear? The cat is out of the bag, man!; 8/20/14, 9:34 AM
The Drill SGT said...: No way. SLO is Central Cal.
SOCAL ends at Santa Barbara.

If you were born in Chico, everything South of Big Sur is SOCAL.; 8/20/14, 9:39 AM
MayBee said...: Freeman Hunt-

Is there still the little zoo outside Fayetteville where you can pet the giraffes and hold baby lions?; 8/20/14, 9:40 AM
SGT Ted said...: It is also the results of the cult of female narcissism. I bet she is a college graduate, too.; 8/20/14, 9:42 AM
Anonymous said...: 'Cat is Out of the Bag, Man' Guy says:

The cat is out of the bag, man! We're becoming a nation of Chicks, man! Chicks! General Custer, man: General Custer would just laugh at us, laugh at all of us turning into Chicks! You can't fight the Man in little girl panties, people! Shit-house rat time, you hear? The cat is out of the bag, man!; 8/20/14, 9:44 AM
Tank said...: MayBee said...

Freeman Hunt-

Is there still the little zoo outside Fayetteville where you can pet the giraffes and hold baby lions?

There is a small zoo outside of Bandon Oregon where you can pet baby tigers, bears, etc.

Cool.

Very cool.

SWPL.

Cool.; 8/20/14, 9:50 AM
Saint Croix said...: You did what you did to the animal

What did she do? What are the facts?

He had some grass and nuzzled my head...

He licked me...

That is love, your honor, love. Not vanity. Not like chasing ducks off an island. Love! With reciprocity and genuine affection on both sides.

and then I got a kick to the chin

Which can happen to anybody, your honor. Me, you, Bruce Willis, anybody! She got a kick in the chin. A broken heart. Did she harass the animal or seek vengeance or act out a wounded pride? She did not. There was no harassment, your honor. Just a very short love affair and a violent break-up in which my client was the victim. With all due respect, your honor, duh!; 8/20/14, 9:54 AM
F said...: Needs a "Disney" tag too, 'cause it's all those cute Disney animal flix that screw up the way people in America think of animals.; 8/20/14, 9:56 AM
Saint Croix said...: Keep climbing into the cage, baby. We wild beasts appreciate it. Look at King Kong, that's a good example.; 8/20/14, 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Having concealed myself, along with a friend, at our teen place of employment after hours to play catch with the dolphins, I recuse myself from comment on the specific incident.

On a more serious note: the rules quite clearly don't apply to everyone: see Wall Street and theft. If someone wants to demonstrate the rules apply to everyone, I would recommend risking something and going after the powerful as a more effective means of demonstration.

In yet another job, the overlords broke many rules in order to not pay the workers accrued overtime promised. This was accepted as the way thing are by the vast majority of living on the edge workers. I was not living on the edge. I did not accept it. This was looked upon as a privileged attitude. Yes, it was.

Nevertheless, because I did not accept it and eventually got paid, everyone else got paid. This is the proper use of any privilege one might have and I would argue an inherently more just (and less cruel and oblivious) way to demonstrate equality under law than getting a hard on to "teach someone a lesson" about petty bullshit.

The burden of petty offense type rules *on everyone* should be vastly reduced. IOW, rather than tying down the relatively lucky to show lack of bias, unbind and free the rest.; 8/20/14, 9:58 AM
Larry J said...: It's just a matter of time before some scumbag lawyer (redundant) convinces her to sue the zoo. So what if she was stupid? She got hurt in the zoo so it must be the zoo's fault!; 8/20/14, 10:00 AM
Chef Mojo said...: The lengths some people will go to for that ultimate selfie.

And no, I don't get the racial profiling tag. O, woe is me.; 8/20/14, 10:01 AM
Saint Croix said...: You got a scar, baby! A love scar. Now you can sit at the table with Hooper and Quint.; 8/20/14, 10:02 AM
Unknown said...: This is someone who has a really hard time understanding the rules and how they apply to everyone.

Seems to be a lot of that going around.; 8/20/14, 10:08 AM
William said...: The giraffe is an attractive hazard, and the fence should have been higher. Who among us would not like to cuddle with those frolicsome animals and scratch them behind the ears? She should be suing the zoo.......But even beyond this do we really want to live in a society where attractive women aren't forgiven everything and allowed to do anything they please. This is the first step towards Sharia Law.; 8/20/14, 10:10 AM
Wilbur said...: Judge Wilbur would give her a weekend in jail to think about it.; 8/20/14, 10:10 AM
Dr Weevil said...: Since 'harrass' is a near-synonym of 'annoy', I don't see how she can deny that she harrassed the giraffe. Was the giraffe annoyed? It kicked her, didn't it? I've never heard of a kick in the face being a sign of affection in any species. If the animal was feeling annoyed enough to kick, it was by definition feeling harrassed, and the victim's feelings are all that counts today. Q.E.D.; 8/20/14, 10:16 AM
MikeDC said...: "I'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why?"

The winner was probably because the giraffe was "African American".

But being idiotic around wild animals also pretty clearly falls into "stuff white people like".; 8/20/14, 10:16 AM
RAS743 said...: Some people are so stupid they can't be saved from themselves. She's lucky to be alive. Nominate her for a Darwin Award and be done with her.; 8/20/14, 10:18 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: It's ridiculous to call this harassment. The giraffe probably enjoyed kicking her in the face. I know I would have.; 8/20/14, 10:33 AM
Birches said...: I knew before I clicked over she'd have to be a millennial. The fact that she's good looking also fits into the narrative.

Here's why:
A 40 year old overweight hippie wouldn't complain about the fine. But this lady thinks that she 'already" learned her lesson and shouldn't need anymore consequences. She's been pulling that one on her parents, teachers, etc for years. Her looks also help her get away with it.; 8/20/14, 10:39 AM
Paddy O said...: "Officer, do you really have to give us a ticket?"; 8/20/14, 10:40 AM
Paddy O said...: Doesn't keeping a giraffe in a relatively small enclosure in a much different than native climate to be gawked at by people all day constitute greater harassment to the giraffe?

If the giraffe had a choice between freedom in Africa and being approached by a woman, I suspect he'd ditch the zoo and go with the lady.; 8/20/14, 10:43 AM
jimf said...: It is a stupidity fine...doesn't matter what her feelings are...if you are dumb enough to harass a poor animal, you pay...or your estate does.; 8/20/14, 10:45 AM
Birches said...: Paddy O illustrated my point better than I did.; 8/20/14, 10:47 AM
CStanley said...: Maybee-
Not sure if it is the same place but I have visited a place outside Fayetteville with drive through zoo and a kangaroo petting zoo. My kids love the place and ask to visit every time we're in the area visiting family. They're very tame, and a lot of fun (we have video of my son hopping around with a few of them.)

The drive through part is rather sad though. They seem to be doing the best they can and all of the animals were rescued from situations that were worse, but some are in enclosures that are still too small, and cruel.; 8/20/14, 11:01 AM
CStanley said...: I get that some white people feel the rules don't apply to them, especially pretty young blond women. Also can somewhat endorse the angle someone mentioned about "stuff white people like" for interjecting race.

But I don't see how either of those things relates to profiling.; 8/20/14, 11:04 AM
SeanF said...: I don’t 'harass' zoo animals. I’m an animal lover...

Oh, the next guy that gets sued for sexually harassing women has got to use that one.; 8/20/14, 11:05 AM
$9,000,000,000 Write Off said...: ..that penalties apply equality [sic] and being (or posing as) a nice lady doesn't get you special treatment.

But if she was a nice looking lady, she'd definitely get special treatment (de facto, not dejure).; 8/20/14, 11:06 AM
Think said...: Nice defense: "I don't 'harass' [women]. I'm [a women] lover."

I didn't steal your wallet. I love money.; 8/20/14, 11:23 AM
Unknown said...: @ Drill Sgt, @ Maybee
Moot point. after November it will be in "West California"

http://www.ego-vero.net/main/?p=1244

My initial reaction was that she is from Marin County; 8/20/14, 11:27 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Giraffe hoof to the face = "check your privilege, chick!"; 8/20/14, 11:36 AM
Lucien said...: I don't know if this counts as harassment because the woman's actions were not severe and pervasive enough to create a hostile zooing environment for the giraffe.

Instead, this was the first non-routine giraffe on human interaction the giraffe has had in years.

Also, the giraffe liked kicking her.; 8/20/14, 11:37 AM
Naut Right said...: When the fence doesn't provide a clue....channeling Alicia Silverthorne.; 8/20/14, 11:44 AM
tim maguire said...: The real villain here is the giraffe. It solved a problem without recourse to invasive government programs. That makes it a far greater threat to the state then a woman who "harasses" animals (which is a funny word for trespassing).; 8/20/14, 11:57 AM
Krumhorn said...: 'm putting my racial profiling tag on this post. Do you see why?

All I can think of is stuff-stupid-entitled-librul-white-girls-think-it's-ok-to-do, but that's not so much racial as it's cultural.

Normally, racial profiling issues come up when cops stop a car with certain folks driving, or (my fervent wish that) TSA only require Arabs to take off their shoes and belts, or Jesse Jackson's tendency to cross to the other side of the street when a brother appears late in the evening.

Since I, too, had pictured a fat middle-aged white lady with butchy hair, I probably would have screened out the older lady and let the young pretty entitled bitch near my giraffe.

Which is, I guess, the argument against the efficacy of racial profiling.

See? I can be learnt sumpthin'

- Krumhorn; 8/20/14, 1:39 PM
Paul said...: Memo to zoo employees:

Must teach giraffe to kick HARDER so next time an idiot climbs the fence they won't complain about fines cause they are dead. Either that or put the giraffe sign on the lions cage.; 8/20/14, 2:02 PM
Anonymous said...: 'My Time With Wally' is this year's 'Why Are There Even Cages, Man?'

It's like Jane Goodall meets Siegfried & Roy meets some blonde chick who felt it was time to take this zoo giraffe thing to a whole 'nother level.

Don't ticket her, 'bro.; 8/20/14, 2:24 PM
donald said...: She's kinda hot and probably not fat, definitely should get a pass in the land of the fat people.; 8/20/14, 2:41 PM
MFindlay said...: She's also an animal (as are we all) but she's being profiled as a member of a human race. Only a member of the human race can be guilty of "harassing" another animal.; 8/20/14, 2:43 PM
eLocke said...: She profiled the giraffe as gentle.; 8/20/14, 2:43 PM
Rusty said...: No word on what the giraffe is going to do with its share of the $686.
Ain't that a kick in the head.; 8/20/14, 3:24 PM
Sam L. said...: Is Steven Elbow a real name?; 8/20/14, 3:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Why $686? Why not $685 or $687? Big brother is completely arbitrary. Maybe Kafka should have written about this instead of about cockroaches?; 8/20/14, 4:29 PM
Fandor said...: Let's see her harrass a tiger.; 8/20/14, 5:05 PM
Michael said...: Do you see why?

After being lectured by an idiot for months on end you do not see the obvious racist, white supremacist, undertones, OVERTONES, of the white ass California "lady" who pokes the captive descendant of an animal brought in chains from AFRICA? You do not see what is in front of your eyes, four hundred years of carting off African animals agains their wills for your WHITE PRIVILEGED pleasure, your racist eyes blind to the obvious?

And here is this WHITE bitch saying how much she loves, absolutely loves, the animal behind bars.

Fucking wake up people there is an uprising coming.

Why do you think that fucking animal has such a long neck? The WHITE devils came and stole all the trees with the low hanging leaves, the tasty leaves. YOU people are sick; 8/20/14, 7:19 PM
David said...: Good looking air head California girls are a race? God save us if they start getting any affirmative action.; 8/20/14, 8:32 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: I haven't read anything about this except here at Althouse, so I'm posing this from a state of pristine ignorance.

Odds on her origin:
100:1 Fresno
80:1 Modesto
5:1 Santa Cruz
4:1 Santa Barbara
3:1 San Francisco
2:1 Sausalito

How'd I do?; 8/21/14, 11:22 AM
Joanne Jacobs said...: Racial profiling: dumb blonde?; 8/21/14, 11:24 AM