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Grain Valley Police are continuing to investigate if charges should be filed against the parents of an infant who suffered severe hand injuries from a pet ferret.
Police are interviewing witnesses. They will discuss their investigation with prosecutors in the next couple of days, said police chief Aaron Ambrose.
Early Monday morning, police went to a home in the 200 block of Young Street on an animal bite involving an infant.
A pet ferret had chewed the fingers of a 4-month-old boy. The ferret severed the infant’s seven fingers with only the thumbs and a partial pinkie remaining.
As of Tuesday, the infant was in critical condition at an area hospital, Ambrose said, as he had been when admitted.
According to a Grain Valley police report:
The mother told police the infant was seated in a rocker. She was in the same room with the boy, watching television. The infant’s father, her husband, went to the bedroom to sleep.
The mother fell asleep. Screams from the infant awoke her. The mother saw the ferret next to the boy in his rocker. She saw several fingers missing from the boy. Blood covered the infant.
The father rushed into the room, grabbed the ferret and flung it against the wall, killing it.
Ken Tuttle, the animal control officer for Grain Valley, said ferrets are not aggressive if nurtured in a controlled environment.
“In a controlled situation, they are a very good pet,” said Tuttle. “They need to be monitored.”
Tuttle owns two ferrets. “I have never had any issues with them because we are constantly interacting with them on a daily basis.”
Ferrets need to be monitored around children, he said. “I always recommend to anybody that owns a ferret have an existing habitation cage for them to be placed into when they are not being observed.”
Ferrets are omnivores, meaning the animals are general feeders that can either eat plants or meat.
“They are opportunists,” Tuttle said. “They can eat cat food and table scraps.”
Monday’s ferret attack was the only case that Tuttle had ties with while an animal control officer in Missouri. When Tuttle was an officer in California, a woman took in a feral ferret.
“One day, she bent over to take a picture of it,” Tuttle said. “The ferret jumped up and bit her in the face and clawed her.”
Grain Valley Police are continuing to investigate if charges should be filed against the parents of an infant who suffered severe hand injuries from a pet ferret.
Police are interviewing witnesses. They will discuss their investigation with prosecutors in the next couple of days, said police chief Aaron Ambrose.
Early Monday morning, police went to a home in the 200 block of Young Street on an animal bite involving an infant.
A pet ferret had chewed the fingers of a 4-month-old boy. The ferret severed the infant’s seven fingers with only the thumbs and a partial pinkie remaining.
As of Tuesday, the infant was in critical condition at an area hospital, Ambrose said, as he had been when admitted.
According to a Grain Valley police report:
The mother told police the infant was seated in a rocker. She was in the same room with the boy, watching television. The infant’s father, her husband, went to the bedroom to sleep.
The mother fell asleep. Screams from the infant awoke her. The mother saw the ferret next to the boy in his rocker. She saw several fingers missing from the boy. Blood covered the infant.
The father rushed into the room, grabbed the ferret and flung it against the wall, killing it.
Ken Tuttle, the animal control officer for Grain Valley, said ferrets are not aggressive if nurtured in a controlled environment.
“In a controlled situation, they are a very good pet,” said Tuttle. “They need to be monitored.”
Tuttle owns two ferrets. “I have never had any issues with them because we are constantly interacting with them on a daily basis.”
Ferrets need to be monitored around children, he said. “I always recommend to anybody that owns a ferret have an existing habitation cage for them to be placed into when they are not being observed.”
Ferrets are omnivores, meaning the animals are general feeders that can either eat plants or meat.
“They are opportunists,” Tuttle said. “They can eat cat food and table scraps.”
Monday’s ferret attack was the only case that Tuttle had ties with while an animal control officer in Missouri. When Tuttle was an officer in California, a woman took in a feral ferret.
“One day, she bent over to take a picture of it,” Tuttle said. “The ferret jumped up and bit her in the face and clawed her.”
