I do not understand how a person, unless they were completely
*anesthetized*, could be in a room - no, a *neighborhood* - w/ a
baby being mauled that badly, & NOT HEAR IT! Furthermore, I do not
understand how a kid - or *any* human - could be mauled like that &
not make a single sound, unless it was also totally anesthetized.

And the animals? To quote: "Another veterinarian, Dr. Valri Brown, said
if the puppy chewed off the infant's toes, it would not have happened
quickly. "It would have to be a period of time -- maybe at least an
hour," she said."

How many puppies have an attention span of an hr?

And how much longer would that have taken if it were a *ferret*? Or if
a ferret was even able to *do* something like that. Let's face it - do
any of you have a ferret w/ an attention span long enough to chew off 3
of a baby's toes, & mangle a 4th? Let's not even *talk* about the size
of a ferret's mouth - even a large ferret's.

Something's wrong here. IMHO, it was the parents themselves who injured
that baby. If it's possible to be so drugged up that you can't hear a
baby's screams (for over an *hr*?), it's possible to be so drugged up
you could injure your own child. I think both of the parents are hiding
something, & the fact that they can't even agree on their versions of
the story is a HUGE clue into that. They were both in the same room -
can they not tell the difference between a puppy & a ferret? Their
*own* puppy & their *own* ferret? Give me a break already.

Two things I always say: (1) We don't need licenses for our animals -
we need licenses for *people* to be fit to own animals. And (2), if
parents had to go through what my husband & I had to go through to
adopt Kristina & Anton from Kazkahstan, there would be a *hell* of
a lot less stories like this. Imagine if every prospective parent
couldn't get permission to have a kid unless they passed an INS
clearance, a state child abuse registry clearance, a review of their
driving records, psychological evaluations, home studies (both
scheduled & non-scheduled), required reading & proof of their knowledge
about the developmental stages of childhood, childhood post traumatic
stress syndrome, developmental delays (mental, social, & physical), not
to mention having their fingerprints taken & run through AFIS & passing
an FBI clearance. Then, after having the kid (*if* they got permission
after all of the above), having to file a report every 6 mos to the
appropriate gov't agency, documenting the child's development,
physically, mentally, & socially, along w/ proper legally-acceptable
documentation, notarized & certified?

Things like this would never happen. So many parents would be refused a
child-raising license, it would make your frikken head spin.

It's the parents' fault, no question in my mind. I don't know how the
baby was injured, but the parents are ultimately responsible. The kids
are now in foster care in state custody. This can only be an
improvement for those kids. I've seen proof of that, when I was doing
my psych internship at our local kiddie prison many moons ago, then
being hired as a guard & councelling asst afterwards. The things some
parents do to their kids is grotesque beyond words, & for many of those
kids, even juvvie is better than home.

As for the animals, they need to be tested for any evidence of the
kid's tissue or blood in their fur, stomachs, or whatever. Once the
animals are cleared (notice I didn't say "if"), the same testing should
be done on the parents. No matter what the outcome, the parents should
be tossed in the slammer, to let the other prisoners deal w/ them as
they so desire (cos, as we all know, people who commit crimes against
children are the very *bottom* of the food chain in prisons - regard
the fates of Jeffrey Dahmer, Fr John Geoghan, etc. Most of these
prisoners got to where they are now cos of their own abuse at the hands
of their parents, etc. You know what they say about paybacks).

Yes, child abuse/neglect is a topic I'm beyond rabid about. I've seen
too many cases of it in just the short time I had to work in the midst
of it. I've read too many horror stories during the process of adopting
our kids. Forget the animals. It was the parents, vomitous heaps of
wasted DNA that they are. They need to be punished, & should never get
their kids back ever again.

</rant>

Lin

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email me at:  kay tee en eye el at double-u owe aich dot ar ar dot see
owe em
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[Posted in FML 5465]