Posted on 12/20/2006 8:54:01 PM PST by paulat
Mother: Ferret, not pit bull, gnawed off baby's toes
BENTON, La. – The parents of a month-old girl whose toes were gnawed off while they slept apparently disagree about whether the culprit was their ferret or their 6-week-old pit bull.
Mary Hansche, 22, told KTBS-TV on Tuesday that she thinks it was the ferret. "The way the bite marks were on her foot. The ferret being out of its cage. I knew it wasn't the dog," she said.
[snip]
"We were told that the puppy had blood on its fur. But when the officers arrived there, the animal did not have blood on its mouth," he said.
Natale said which animal did it won't affect charges against the Hansches, who were booked Dec. 10 on charges of child desertion and criminal negligence and remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $50,000 bond each.
[snip]
Their daughter has been released from the hospital and is in state custody.
The Hansches were asleep on a mattress on the floor and the baby in a carrier next to the mattress when her cries woke them, police have said. They were not tested for alcohol or drugs, since such tests would not be needed to prove the charges, Natale said Wednesday.
Defense attorney Pam Smart said she is waiting for results of a hair analysis to back up the couple's statement that they were not using drugs.
[snip]
She also said their bonds are too high for misdemeanors. A bond reduction hearing is scheduled next month.
Both pets were released from quarantine but will remain in the Bossier City animal shelter until the court case is over, Natale said. Either the court or the city may decide their fate, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
I think the dingo ate her toes!
>>As long as you have not beat your child and given them bruises or welts I don't see that as abuse for example.<<
And therein lies the problem. For those who make the laws DO see it as abuse. Better to just err in the direction of giving parents TOO MUCH latitude than not enough. I see the preservation of the freedom of all parents to be a greater good than the saving of a few lives or toes.
I am not trying to be a smart alec. This is what I sincerely believe. I believe the way in which a parent handles their own children is between them and the God that gave them the children. Only when they try to kill and or sexually abuse them do I think the state has a right to step in .
I am not trying to be a smart alec. This is what I sincerely believe. I believe the way in which a parent handles their own children is between them and the God that gave them the children. Only when they try to kill and or sexually abuse them do I think the state has a right to step in .
Me too. Merry Christmas ~~Pandora~~
They are doing a drug test on the mothers hair or maybe both parents. God knows what made these two sleep through that. I tend to think they weren't even there. How on earth could a mother sleep through the screams of pain her baby was suffering through?
>>Me too. Merry Christmas ~~Pandora~~<<
NOOOOOO!!!
I came here for the full half hour argument!
Merry Christmas.
I have all the trappings at home. I have the Christmas tree, the Hanukkah menorah and Kwanza bling.
Ferret did it!! ferret links
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=527
Do ferrets really eat babies?
There have been some highly publicized incidents where a young infant left alone with a young ferret has been seriously injured or killed, and because of this, extremists have claimed that ferrets are not suitable pets for anyone, with or without children. Some of the 'ferrets' in these incidents have actually been ferret-polecat crosses. Wild polecats and hunting ferrets eat baby rabbits, groundhogs, rats, and mice that they find in burrows: it is natural for them to attack milky-smelling creatures. In the few cases where human infants have been attacked by ferrets, both the ferrets and the babies appear to have been neglected by the adults who should have been responsible for them.
An infant should never be left alone with a ferret or with any other animal. Many mature ferrets are entirely trustworthy with the young members of the household, sharing nap time and never taking the slightest nibble at clutching baby hands. You must take responsibility for supervising both the baby and the animal, making sure that neither one hurts the other in their early encounters.
http://www.petplace.com/small-mammals/how-to-keep-your-ferret-from-biting/page1.aspx
Bare feet can attract a playful ferret like roses attract bees. And more than one ferret owner has stepped out of the shower and right into an ambush – a musky little friend lying in wait to attack the toes.It's not a spiteful attack; it's what passes for ferret fun, especially when his owner starts hopping around on one foot yelling “Ow!” But it is also annoying – not to mention painful. And when the ferret is angry or frightened and really does mean for his bite to hurt, it's even worse.
Ferrets are armed with needle-sharp teeth and while the incidence of serious ferret bites is infinitesimally low compared to dog bites – the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association has estimated there are an average of 12 ferret bites per year that require medical treatment – biting is certainly a habit any ferret-owner wants to discourage.
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/rabbit_horse_and_other_pet_care/hsus_statement_on_ferrets_as_pets.html
Ferrets have sharp teeth and occasionally bite when startled, excited, or handled improperly. Because small children have been seriously injured by ferret bites, The HSUS recommends that children, particularly infants, never be left unsupervised with ferrets (or with any other companion animal).
She is a mother by genes only.
I did see your post before about the hair. That isn't the same as an immediate blood test. The blood test would have carried more legal weight.
I would have thought blood and urine would have been done ASAP. I don't normally judge people on their looks but the pictures I have seen of those two morons make me wonder if they are all there in the brain dept. Merry Christmas ~~Pandora~~
>>>>I have seen of those two morons make me wonder if they are all there in the brain dept.
And we don't need a blood or urine test to prove that :))
Merry Christmas :)
>>If you want to argue more we could start with the helmet laws lmao I HATE them. <<
We'll have to find something we disagree on. ;)
>>But, what about winter solstice???<<
Ok, ok, I'll go get a snowman. But it will be a FAKE one.
Considering a puppy's bite bigger than a ferret bite, and given the propensity for non disciplined dogs/puppies to love to chew things, I still say the puppy did it. And until the ferret steps forward and admits the wrong deed, the dog is my number one suspect.......
Sounds good to me, too.
Last week in my little town, a Belgian Malnois (a big dog) attacked a college prep student from Canada, drew blood, knocked her down, and dragged her down Main Street. She returned home to Canada for recovery. Is it Ontario that plans a ban on Pits?
Anyway, I've been bitten by German Shepherds twice: once at 9, and once again at 59—and I still love dogs.
Small dogs. :-)
>I still believe they're dangerous,<
In the wrong hands, they're dangerous. In abusive hands, they're dangerous. In negligent hands, they're more dangerous, and in clueless hands, they're the most dangerous. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that to be owned successfully, they take training, and socialization, and they must be kept under their owner's supervision, and not allowed to roam free. There are thousands of pit bulls in this country that live out their lives without ever harming a person. Their stories are not splashed across the front pages of newspapers, nor featured on You Tube. They, and their owners, are not valuable for selling papers, so they are conveniently ignored.
There is a mindset that looks for a dog that is a menace to others. They're the ones we see most often in these pit bull stories. Put any number of other, rarer, more expensive breeds in their possession, and you'd have the same stories, with a different name to fill in the blank.
In this particular case, the puppy in question, because of its age, is innocent. That said, it's not surprising that someone so negligent as to allow their baby's toes to be gnawed off by an animal, would have a pit bull and not a beagle. The couple personifies the exact personality that has caused the vilification of the pit bull in the first place.
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