Zoos try to tout themselves as fun places for the whole family, when in reality, they are fraught with danger. Every day, thousands of unsuspecting zoogoers pass within a mere few feet of wild animals with either natural or learned instincts to inflict physical, mental, and emotional harm on their human voyeurs.

This month’s hero has taken legal action against the entities that run the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago for unsafe conditions that resulted in “injuries of a personal and pecuniary nature, including but not limited to, lost wages, medical expenses, pain and suffering, and physical and emotional trauma, all of which are permanent.” Thus, she is also helping expose the hidden perils that millions of zoo patrons face each year.

On August 18, a date that will undoubtedly be commemorated in the annals of human rights, Allecyn Edwards filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against the Chicago Zoological Society and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

She is suing them for $50,000 to cover the aforementioned damages she sustained after falling while walking on the wet floor in the bleacher section of the dolphin exhibit area on August 18, 2008. Edwards’ suit claims that, among other negligent acts, the defendants “recklessly and willfully trained and encouraged the dolphins to throw water at the spectators in the stands making the floor wet and slippery,” “failed to provide warnings of the slippery floor,” and “failed to provide mats … when the staff knew the floor would get wet and slippery.”

According to Edwards’ suit, innocent-looking Atlantic bottlenose dolphins were actually conditioned by the zoo’s staff to soak spectators and create potentially hazardous conditions for them. Not only are dolphins smart, they are the evil geniuses of the sea.

Edwards’ lawsuit could very well prove to be the impetus needed to shed light on the plight of countless zoo patrons silently suffering from physical, mental, and/or emotional trauma inflicted by zoo animals all across the globe. These victims are likely too ashamed to publicly discuss their unfortunate encounters with the animal world, afraid that society will mock them because of the ordeals they’ve gone through.

Whether it’s a cockatoo plucking away a bald man’s toupee, a chimpanzee masturbating in front of a naive child, or a gorilla hurling poo at an elderly lady, zoos rake in millions of dollars in admission fees with absolute impunity while the very people who pay their bills risk being accosted by the creatures they’ve paid to see. Thankfully, Edwards’ suit may soon put an end to all that monkey business.

Since 2000, the Brookfield Zoo has been sued five times for personal injury or premises liability. All of those cases were dismissed. We can only hope that this one sticks like freshly flung monkey feces on suede shoes.