>....  Said there was an article recently in his local paper about a ferret
>that crawled under a door and broke into the baby's crib and proceeded to
>chew on her face quite badly.  I'm curious to know if this is actually a
>recent article or if it was about that famous case that keeps ferrets
>illegal in CA?
-------------
>I am preparing an article ........  and will use statistical methods to
>prove once and for all that ferrets are as safe (or more so) than any other
>household pet.  What I need are references on ferret (or dog/cat/snake,
>etc) attacks.
 
Thanks Bob Church --
 
    IMO the too widely held misperception that ferrets are small biting
creatures that carry rabies and suck the life out of babies is more than
any other factor responsible for many of the laws against them.  Anything
that can be done to introduce people to these animals will be for the good.
 
    Course, it is also important to provide enough information to allow
informed decisions to be made re ownership.  As several have pointed out it
is all too easy to bring one of these little people into your home while
being unprepared for the responsibility and unable to provide the care.
Just because ferrets are GREAT pets does not mean that everyone should own
one.  Tough message to get across.
 
    Re biting incidents, I went out to Tufts Veterinary School earlier in
the year to look for info to use in support of Mass bill 295.  We did a
computer search and came up with tons of dog incidents involving serious or
fatal injuries, but empty on ferrets.
 
    The only two that I am aware of are the 'Michelle Bowers' incident which
was sensationalized by Rachael Lamb and HSUS in the five minute Good Morning
America piece back in May of this year, and an incident that took place in
January of 1991.  I know little about the first other than what was
broadcast, but have the police report on the second which is more often
[mis]quoted.
 
    This incident happened in Hillsboro Oregon and involved the death of two
month old Vivian Bettencourt.  The ferret had been purchased in October of
1990 at the age of six weeks and was normally kept outside.  It was fed once
a day, at nighttime usually outside, in its cage.
 
    On the night of January 31st however it was cold and rainy so they
brought the ferret inside.  This was only the second time that they had done
so for the night.  Normally when 'inside', the ferret would go behind the
stove and into the pan drawer where it had made a nest by shredding a
newspaper.  They would then block access to the stove by placing a board in
front of the opening next to the refrigerator.
 
    The couple also had two dogs.  A four month old puppy named 'Bearsis'
that they had had for a week, and 'Jake who was sixteen months old.  Both
of these dogs slept in side with them on their bed.
 
    Now, according to the report it was also true that the 'ferret' had a
problem with biting.  The mother stated that "the ferret could sense when
someone was afraid of it and it would attack.  [also] it would bite the
toes.  She stated that [her SO] was the only one that could touch or handle
the ferret.  He fed it and cleaned its cage.  If anyone else tried to touch
it, it would bite them."
 
    So, what happened was that the baby was fed a bottle of formula around
eleven PM that night, given her 'Nystatin' cold(?) medicine and put to sleep
in a playpen under a warm blanket in the living room.  The next morning they
found the ferret under the blanket with the baby who had numerous bite marks
about the face and neck, and had essentially bled to death from a severed
carotid artery.
 
    Upon discovery, the father picked up the ferret and threw it into the
kitchen and against the refrigerator, 911 was called and the rest is
history.  A young fuzzy who was kept in a cage outside in the Oregonian
winter, fed once a day, never handled, allowed to have a blanket or even
given the dignity of a name.  A chronic biter, cold and hungry is allowed to
come in contact with a baby in one of the only warm places in the house and
the predictable happened.
 
    I know that any one of us could point to many circumstances in which
Cats or Dogs would bite or scratch and ferrets would not.  Try and take a
dog's food away while it is eating, or surprise a sleeping cat.  As far as
temperament goes ferrets are not even in the same league.  Even if they
were, they don't have the physical ability for the most part to pull it off.
They can't even find their way back home let alone hunt for prey.  Or in the
words of Rep Brad Jones who is sponsoring Mass bill 295 "It's only a small
animal." Nuff said !!
[Posted in FML issue 1364]