Ferret Bites Baby's Fingers
- Thread starter Rbishop
- Start date
You can't blame the ferret. It' like saying, "Crap. My mean old Oscar just ate all of my guppies. What's up with that?" Ferrets and babies don't mix. That makes it the parents' fault; not the ferret's.
Not saying that I wouldn't have killed the thing...if something were attacking my kid, I'd stomp it quick (regardless of who was at fault). As a parent, I do my best to minimize the dangers facing my kids,though, especially in the home. Obviously these people didn't.
Why the heck someone would need to own a ferret is beyond me, but as I said, people seem to think they have the right to own whatever animal they want to.
I don't think anyone is saying it was acceptable behavior from the ferret. What's more unacceptable is that the parents left a 4 month old unattended with a ferret long enough for it to chew off 8 fingers. One bite is something that should have sent the parents to the rescue of their child to prevent further damage.
Nope!
The thing is though, a dog can be trained..and it's behavior is a reflection of how the owner has raised it. Yes, even after being trained and raised properly things can happen although the likelyhood is lessened.
A ferret on the other hand (although you may be able to train it to do tricks) is not trainable (behaviorly) it is a wild animal regardless of how long you may of had it, and having one in the same house with a baby is just irresponsible.
I have a rescued dog that is food aggressive and we work on that regularly to break him of it. The dog is sequestered away from the family when the grandchildren are here and going to be eating or if he is going to eat. An adult always supervises to ensure everyone's safety. If he should happen to bite someone, it won't be an "aww shucks he's just an animal", it will be a far more serious repercussion than that! People that allow the chance of an animal interacting with their baby are truly not fit to be parents!
The ferret was just doing what ferrets do....
I don't blame the ferret for what happened, it was being a animal...
What's more unacceptable...
Granted, the parents are at fault.....but statements of the type like above are indirectly acceptance of the ferret's actions, IMO. I have seen enough issues with pets over the yrs, that I feel this is one that should be outlawed to extinction.
I don't blame the ferret for what happened, it was being a animal...
What's more unacceptable...
Granted, the parents are at fault.....but statements of the type like above are indirectly acceptance of the ferret's actions, IMO. I have seen enough issues with pets over the yrs, that I feel this is one that should be outlawed to extinction.
I don't see any difference between what you're saying and the push for legislation like hr669, Bish. You can't blame the animal, because it's a frickin animal, and has no moral compass. It's not the ferret's job to discern right and wrong. It's the parent's job to keep a potentially dangerous animal away from their child. If our legal system were predicated on keeping the dumbest amongst us from hurting themselves and others, the rest of us would be dealing with some draconian laws affecting our freedom. Am I upset that the ferret died, not in the least, but I also understand that the actions of a couple of knuckleheads should not be cause for outlawing an animal the vast majority of keepers have never had such issues with.
