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Mother: Ferret, not pit bull, gnawed off baby's toes (I am speechless)
The Dallas Morning News / The Associated Press ^
| 12/20/06
| Associated Press
Posted on 12/20/2006 8:54:01 PM PST by paulat
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To: kinoxi
Yes it does have a certain Twilight Zone air about it.
81
posted on
12/20/2006 10:35:17 PM PST
by
packrat35
(guest worker/day worker=SlaveMart)
To: paulat; KJC1
I tend to believe it was the ferret, since even a puupy-edition pit bull probably couldn't manage to bite off anything as small as a 1 month old baby's toes without taking off a whole lot more. But these parents must have been sleeping off a MAJOR meth run. A one month old baby would let out a massive howl at the first nibble on her toe (that is, assuming she'd been been fed within the past 24 hours and wasn't half-dead from malnourishment and dehydration), and she was right next to them! These parents are obviously the sort of people who shouldn't be allowed to own a ferret, much less a pit bull. Naturally our useless "justice" system won't have them sterilized, and they'll pop out their next little victim in short order.
To: packrat35
The live ferret is in a shelter? If it was one of mine they'd be lucky to find pieces of it.
83
posted on
12/20/2006 10:38:47 PM PST
by
kinoxi
Comment #84 Removed by Moderator
To: GovernmentShrinker
I suspect you are right. My roommate had ferrets and they would come out from under the couch and bite my toes. Hated the F'ers.
85
posted on
12/20/2006 10:40:13 PM PST
by
packrat35
(guest worker/day worker=SlaveMart)
To: paulat
I don't think that a ferret would go after a baby's toes but a 6 week old puppy would definitely be a target.
To: Mike Darancette
I disagree. My roomates ferrets were always biting mine. Finally they had to go.
87
posted on
12/20/2006 10:45:24 PM PST
by
packrat35
(guest worker/day worker=SlaveMart)
To: Mike Darancette
"I don't think that a ferret would go after a baby's toes."And how did you come to that conclusion? Ferrets are predators that go for small rodents. That poor girls toes might have appeared as such.
88
posted on
12/20/2006 10:46:27 PM PST
by
blackbart.223
(I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
To: GovernmentShrinker
I also think the likely culprit is the ferret. However, before I personally convict these parents for child desertion et al, I'd need to know more about the ferret and their behavior. A 1 month old baby's toes are quite small and I doubt it would take much for a critter to take them off. How big was this ferret? How sharp are their teeth? How many toes were missing?
I definitely agree with child endangerment by having animals loose around the baby without proper supervision but without knowing more about a ferret's behavior and chewing abilities, as well as the child's specific injuries, I can't go further than that. I'm not assuming that it took several minutes for the ferret to injure this child.
As for the pit bull comments, one rarely sees newspaper stories about poodles or daschunds biting children. It's not exactly sensational. Although, there was that pomeranian that killed a newborn baby a few years ago. Let's ban poms!
To: John Robertson
but the current queen is a female vizsla...LOVELY dog, great hunter, affectionate, etc.
They are beautiful animals.
90
posted on
12/20/2006 10:50:49 PM PST
by
kinoxi
To: KJC1
You think because someone recognizes the need to make pitbull ownership illegal has to be a liberal? lol...
funny....
you're a pit bull owner and your dogs are not dangerous? Great...you're the only one on the planet then. And every pit bull owner whose dogs maime or kill other people always have some lame excuse for why it happened. Blame the victim -- blame society -- blame people like me who actually think it's my JOB as a parent to make sure my children don't get eaten by pits who roam the neighbor, or walk along side a stupid idiotic owner carrying his leash, grinning at me while i tell him to put that dog on the leash NOW.
it's not your job to welcome me (or not) to FR. Do you know what FR stands for? The first word is "FREE" and i think it has something to do with the 1st Amendment. Have you heard of that?
BTW, I believe gunowners should be responsible with their weapons. But guns are inantimate objects, and will not shoot to kill on their own. You have NO control over your animal when that animal wants to attack something. I don't care how much you benchpress...you are powerless over that beast when it wants to charge. I have seen this happen myself, with a pit eating a cat. The owner, who thinks he's so buff, stands there helpless while his leashed pit tears right off that little thread and goes after its prey.
Pits do not deserve legal protection. People (and children) do. Don't mess with a momma who has fought to the death a system that allowed her four children to be neglected and abused by idiot birthparents, and who just adopted all 4 last week. My kids couldn't play in their own backyard for years with the birth family because of multiple pit bulls that the parents cared more about than my precious children.
they sound just like you, my friend.
91
posted on
12/20/2006 10:56:05 PM PST
by
adopt4Him
(The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.)
To: paulat
I always said it was that nasty ferret. I hope the baby is going to be alright and that these stupid parents lose custody of her. They should not have children or animals. Prayers for the baby.
92
posted on
12/20/2006 10:58:52 PM PST
by
pandoraou812
( zero tolerance and dilligaf?)
To: KJC1
Seesh, you must live under a rock. There are hundreds of threads about that on FR alone.
And no, I won't dig them up. You wouldn't believe them anyway.
I feel sorry for those around you.
93
posted on
12/20/2006 11:04:44 PM PST
by
Balding_Eagle
(God has blessed Republicans with political enemies who are going senile.)
To: paulat
I have no horse (or dog) in this race but this thread is short on statistics and long on anecdote.
http://www.la-spca.org/dedication/talk/t_judge.htm
In 37 years, 342 children were killed by dogs, an average of about nine children a year. Shockingly, approximately three children are killed each day, or 1,100 per year, by their parents. Delise notes that "A child in the United States is over 100 times more likely to be killed by his or her parent or caretaker than by a dog."
Pit bull and pit mixes account for 21 percent of all human fatalities, while mixed breed dogs account for 16 percent and other nonspecified breeds, 15 percent. Delise's study demonstrates that the breed of dog should not be the sole factor by which an attack is judged. Other factors include inherited and learned behaviors, genetics, breeding, temperament, surgical sterilization, environmental stresses, owner responsibility, victim behavior, size and age, timing, and the physical condition and the size of dog.
94
posted on
12/20/2006 11:11:37 PM PST
by
james500
To: paulat
The child HAD to be crying after the first shock!
How it could have continued....
_________________________
Parents were drugged out of their minds...losers.
95
posted on
12/20/2006 11:13:54 PM PST
by
cowdog77
(" Are there any brave men left in Washington, or are they all cowards.")
To: james500
Pit bull and pit mixes account for 21 percent of all human fatalities
That sounds about right.
96
posted on
12/20/2006 11:14:45 PM PST
by
kinoxi
To: adopt4Him
I'll "mess with momma" all I like. You are an ignorant fool who has spent NO time with pits. NONE.
NONE. NONE.
I not only have pits, I have pit mixes who have been so badly abused by humans that they were set to be put down. But I gave them a chance.
Go ahead and feel ignorant and SMUG, but you do not know sh*t about this breed. NOTHING.
97
posted on
12/20/2006 11:21:02 PM PST
by
KJC1
(Right when you think you're really good is when you need to pay the most attention)
To: TNdandelion
The toes were there, somewhere, because the TV news accounts said they tried to reattach them, but couldn't.
98
posted on
12/20/2006 11:25:39 PM PST
by
Rte66
To: Balding_Eagle
I feel sorry for you; seriously I don't know who to pity more, a beautiful breed or the ignoramuses who espouse this sh*t.
There are dozens of MSM threads about how Bush sucks too. You just suck those up too, right?
99
posted on
12/20/2006 11:25:44 PM PST
by
KJC1
(Right when you think you're really good is when you need to pay the most attention)
To: TNdandelion
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).
I watched 5 ferrets for a friend once. I would never ever do it again. They are sneaky nasty little stinkers. They would get out of the cage and attack my dobies and akitas. Their bite is sharp and painful. They steal your sneakers and rings. I wouldn't trust them even in their cage. To leave a ferret out of the cage is stupid. They love to destroy couches and rip up carpets. I know people who love their ferrets and have no problems with them. However they are not a pet I would have. When I worked in the shelter we had many come in because people don't understand all the work it takes to keep them. Plus unless you get them descented they reek. I would say the ferret bit the toes off. I doubt rats were around because the ferret would kill them . They ripped one of my dogs ears really badly before I told my friend to come get them.
100
posted on
12/20/2006 11:32:37 PM PST
by
pandoraou812
( zero tolerance and dilligaf?)
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