Posted on 03/07/2011 7:46:56 AM PST by JoeProBono
SACRAMENTO, - California's ferret owners are tired of being criminals. They live in the only U.S. state besides Hawaii that bans residents from keeping ferrets as pets, forcing an untold number of Californians to keep their beloved weasels hidden from the public.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Police: Ferret Bit Off Baby’s Fingers
Officers Called To Grain Valley Home At 2:30 A.M.
POSTED: 4:05 pm CST January 10, 2011
UPDATED: 7:49 am CST January 11, 2011
GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — Grain Valley police said a pet ferret bit several fingers off the hands of a 4-month-old boy early Monday.
Officers said they were called to a home in the 200 block of Young Street at about 2:30 a.m.
Investigators said the boy had severe damage to his hands from the pet.
“The family ferret had actually gotten into where the baby was asleep and began to take off the fingers of the child,” Police Chief Aaron Ambrose said.
Ambrose said the child’s father killed the ferret after discovering what happened.
“The boy ends up with seven fingers lost, three left, being the thumbs and on one hand a pinkie left,” Ambrose said.
Sharon Cannon of the Kansas City Ferret Hotline, a ferret rescue and care group, said ferrets are not recommended in homes with babies.
“If you get a ferret who’s just exploring, and they bite the baby and the baby cries, it might see that as play,” Cannon said.
Ferrets are domesticated, but their play can be rough. Cannon questions how this could have happened.
“(I want) to know why the ferret was not locked up properly, secured, especially with an infant in the household,” Cannon said.
Police want to know the same thing.
“(It’s safe to say we’re looking at this more intensely than we would just your average animal bite,” Ambrose said.
The Grain Valley Police Department and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said they’re investigating the case.
My oldest daughter is the only one of the family that isn’t allergic to cats, and she wanted one desperately.
We settled on ferret and these little guys are AMAZING.
Playful as hell, claws that aren’t that sharp (tickle but don’t hurt) and their bite is playful and not bad (we’re training them out of it).
I spend an hour after work playing with them and it’s a great way to unwind. They play like crazy and then they crash hard for hours. They use a litter box, too.
Love the little bastards (Butch and Sundance).
My family LOVES that smell.
Ours were descented from the get-go, so the smell is marginal.
You do notice more of the musky odor right after they use the litter box (the scent glands are supposed to impart their scent on their poop), but after a while I think they smell great.
First the crimaliens, now the stretch weasels!
Frank Burns MADE that show.
Trapper John left and Mike Farrel was just another whiny lib to Alda’s “Hawkeye”.
RIP, Mr. Linville.
McClain Stevenson as Col. Henry Blake was my favorite character.
I actually cried at the end of the last episode of season 3 when he finished his tour and Radar tearfully announced he was killed on the helicopter.
Trapper and Hawkeye were great together. Mike Farrel turned the show into a big bummer.
There was recently a story in Kansas City about a woman whose baby had lost all her fingers to the family's "pet" ferret, who chewed them off.
Mark
The illegal Ferret Ranchers in Northern California won’t allow legalization. You haven’t lived until you’ve been in a ferret-roundup. Those little critters are hard to rope and when you do catch one, watch out! They buck and snort and paw the ground! I remember one time when old Tex roped a free-range ferret and barely lived to tell the tale. Then you have to bring in a ferret-whisperer to train them. Let them be illegal and free! Free the ferrets! Free the ferrets!
“Seriously, can they?”
Can you?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.