Despite what I am being told to think, I don't see what Steve Irwin did as "abuse." In case you haven't followed the late breaking news, he was holding his baby boy while he fed one of the crocs. He wasn't dangling the baby over the crock, he was holding him like any father might hold his child.
Yes, crocodiles are wild animals, but to an expert, they're mostly predictable. While he may not know if the croc is going to snap to the left, right, forward or back, as someone who has been around them since childhood, he damn well knows how fast it is and how far it can go no matter what direction and he keeps himself and baby out of that danger range. Baby is in far more risk of death while in dad's car than he is when dad feeds the reptiles.
This is no more abuse than holding your baby while crossing a big city intersection is.