You guys, if you've heard about this then you know what I'm talking about. The news reported an incident where a couple's baby girl's toes were "gnawed" off by either the pet ferret or a 6 month old pit bull puppy. What do you guys think??? Which animal did it or is more likely to do it?
I was considering getting a pet ferret, but this is now very frightening. Are ferrets that dangerous, even to humans?
The report said also, that a vet thinks the puppy tried to nurse, mistaking the baby's toes for nipples. This sounds unlikely to me.
What's you all's opinions?
2006-12-22 07:33:30 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Sounds like a pure urban legend!
2006-12-22 08:12:28 · answer #1 · answered by TheWeeKiwi 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off,,,,where were the parents while this was going on? If it was the ferret or the puppy the baby had to be crying in pain at the first one much less all the toes? Did they not hear this? They need to investigate this issue first before wondering which animal is to blame. If either one did do it they had to be just as neglected as the child was! Take them all from the parents until more investigation can be done on it!
2006-12-23 06:32:35 · answer #2 · answered by Theresa P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you want my opinion I don't think the ferret did it,and if it did it would have to be gnawing for a while,i have a ferret she bites me all the time and it does not even hurt.Maybe it was the pittbull mistaking the baby's toes for feeding but I doubt it.On second thought which one did they find blood on the one that did it should have had blood all over the animal,and second thought where are the parents come on this is a newborn baby.Come to think of it where were the parents????
2006-12-22 09:53:22 · answer #3 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Could be either one. By the way it was a 6 WEEK old puppy. Too young to be away from its mother to begin with. And way too young to have developed any kind of aggressive behaviors.
Either way, it was not aggression on the part of the pet, otherwise much more damage would have been done to the baby. This is why animals and children should never be left unsupervised.
It's the parents' fault. Pure and simple.
2006-12-22 08:47:13 · answer #4 · answered by Emmy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was the pup, but not his fault. He was underfed and hungry. The parents were asleep. He looked around, and he saw toes, probably the size of his mother's nipples. Hungrilly, he began to chew. The baby began to cry, very, very loud. The puppy kept chewing. And chewing. The baby was crying loud enough for the neighbors to hear her. The parents slept through it, if you ask me, ignoring the baby. They got up in a few hours, when the puppy had already done a lot of damage.
2006-12-22 07:42:20 · answer #5 · answered by Judgerz 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When I worked for vets, we always warned young couples of the dangers of having ferrets around young babies. When they first got popular as pets in the 80's, there were several instances documented of ferrets scratching & biting newborn babies faces badly. Some theorized they were atracted to the smell of milk. Vets were told to warn new parents.
One such report: http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/2000/ferret_attacks_baby.html
2006-12-22 13:20:16 · answer #6 · answered by mustanglynnie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
PERSONALLY, I HAD A CHILD DIED WHEN HE WAS 18 MONTHS OLD AND THE PARENTS SHOULD HAVE CUT AND KILLED BOTH ANIMALS FOR RENDERING THIS FOR HAPPENING TO AN INNOCENT CHILD THAT CANT TALK,WALK,OR SPEAK FOR ITSELF.AND I DONT FEEL EITHER ANIMAL SHOULD BE STILL ALIVE AFTER DOING SOMETHING SO HORRIFIC TO A CHILD AND THE PARENTS FOR NOT WANTING THESE ANIMALS PUT DOWN ,REALLY THEY DONT NEED A CHILD AND I FEEL THAT NO PARENT SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TELL IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS HAPPENING TO THEIR BABY,AND ESPECIALLY AFTER NOT ONLY 1 TOE THEN 3 MORE , REALLY BABIES CRY IF THEY ARE GETTING HURT BUT APPARENTLY THESE PEOPLE DID NOT CARE TO LISTEN OR CARE FOR THEIR CHILD SO I HONESTLY HAVE TO SAY THESE ANIMALS SHOULD BE PUT DOWN AND THE PARENTS SHOULD NEVER GET THIS CHILD BACK OR SHOULD THEY EVEN BE ABLE TO BE AROUND OTHER CHILDREN BECAUSE THEY OBVIOUS DID NOT CARE .
2006-12-25 00:38:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can not see a ferret doing this. Ferrets are known to bite, but not sit there and chew. My guess would be the puppy.
2006-12-22 14:03:50 · answer #8 · answered by idgerow 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was probably the pitbull. I have 3 kittens who like to do the same to my fingers. I had a ferret once, they are not really aggressive, depends on how you raise them- same with pitbulls.
2006-12-22 07:50:05 · answer #9 · answered by graperz 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
omg, killer tomato what are you talking about?1 pits are not one of the nicest breed of dog, they are one of the most viscious breeds. the thing about the nursing is VERY unlikely, but ferrets can also be quite nasty! i haven't actually read about this but i know what happened!
i really don't know, but what ever animal it was, the parents shouldn't have been so stupid to leave it alone with either one of them.
2006-12-22 08:18:59 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋