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.