http://www.examiner.net/opinions/opinions_columnists/x1409894515/Riley-A-parental-mistake-a-life-of-regret

OK, this is a NEW LOW . . .

Here's an excerpt of the article at the link above that was written by
a reporter for the Grain Valley newspaper, The Examiner.

"You probably wanted to carpet bomb with expletives the Grain Valley
couple whose 4-month-old boy lost virtually all his fingers in an
attack by a ferret. There were parts of you that felt like shaking
that man and woman in a violent rage while spewing a rapid-fire series
of questions like "Why would you have a ferret around your baby," and
"Didn't you hear your baby screaming earlier?"

I will truthfully admit that there is, no doubt, a level of anger in me
over this incident but after reading this particular article I don't
know who I'd want to strangle first if given the opportunity - the
parents of the baby or this IDIOT reporter!!! I'm all about forgiveness
and all that but clearly this guy has NO CLUE the damage that has been
done to ferrets as a whole! I'm incensed that, once again, someone in
our society is trying to deflect the responsibility of this horrible
situation OFF OF THE PARENTS buy pulling out the "judge not, lest ye be
judged" card. YES, we are all human and we ALL make mistakes but that
doesn't mean we don't have to face the consequences of our actions!!

Does this guy REALLY, SERIOUSLY believe that an animal biting off 7
fingers of an infant can be put lumped into the same "OOPS!" category
as a parent or babysitter accidentally allowing a baby to roll off of
a bed or allowing a child to play in the snow with an unbuttoned coat?
SERIOUSLY? There is absolutely no comparison - ESPECIALLY when, in
the case of this attack, the parents were (supposedly) not only in
the house but one was in the very same room as the child! I'm not
interested in playing the blame game and I am not being hypocritical
when I say that I demand and expect the parents to be held FULLY
ACCOUNTABLE AND RESPONSIBLE and experience the consequences for their
carelessness and neglectful actions! There is just absolutely no excuse
for not acting more responsible with the infant - esp. since the
parents already knew that whatever animal was responsible for the
attack on the baby was a danger to the baby. According to our law/legal
system, "to commit an act *knowingly* is to do so with knowledge or
awareness of the facts or situation, and not because of mistake,
accident or some other innocent reason". It's no different than driving
a car with a baby not strapped into a car seat and then being involved
in a crash where the baby is seriously injured. The driver KNOWS the
baby could be injured by not being in a car seat but drives the car
anyway. It's not an innocent, careless mistake. And seriously - does
this reporter REALLY believe that an adult (who is not under the
influence of any substance) can sleep right next to and through an
attack like this without waking up? ABSOLUTELY PREPOSTEROUS!!

And just as I believe that forgiveness should be extended whenever
possible - esp. in the case of unfortunate accidents, I also believe
that there needs to be an equal measure of justice carried out to
serve as an example and to send the message that this type of
irresponsibility and neglect by parents carries consequences. Damage
has been done in so many ways - to the infant and to the ferret
population - so to label this "an unfortunate accident" is a horrible
miscarriage of justice!

Jennifer Brown

"Our purpose in life is to find our gift, perfect it, and give it back
to others"

[Posted in FML 6951]