Mother: Ferret, not pit bull, gnawed off baby's toes (I am speechless)

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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