Forget pitbulls...ferrets eat baby's face

[Tsiyu]

holy hell.

"The only food in the house besides animal food was peanut butter and cranberries." The couple had 5 kids.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/1-Month-Old-Baby-Has-Face-Eaten-by-Familys-Ferrets-289601801.html

[NYC_SKP]

1. "It's not that they're bad parents, it's just that the children are not being taken care of." WTF??

Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe said Friday

The family was living in deplorable conditions and the home, in the 300 block of Poplar Road, is infested with fleas or mites, according to police. There were several other animals in the house including six cats, two dogs and two turtles.

The family's four other children, all aged 5-years-old or below, have been taken to a relative. They all have some type of special needs, according to Smythe. He would like them be placed in foster care.

Three social service agencies — Delaware County Children & Youth Services, Northwestern Human Services and Elwyn — have been monitoring the family, Smythe said. They are investigating the incident.

Smythe raised questions about how an incident like this could take place in a family that was being investigated.

"It's not that they're bad parents, it's just that the children are not being taken care of," he said.

Smythe has asked the Delaware County District Attorney to approve charges against the parents.

Unfit to be parents, unredeemable as parents, ever, IMHO.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. True - but I suspect that less of these situations would happen if

the .01% and their paid help in DC weren't squeezing the life out of the 99%

Grinding poverty causes all sorts of ills.

[SheilaT]

3. If you're in grinding poverty you have no business

having that many animals, especially with so many very young children. The kindest thing that could be said about the parents is that they are clueless. But the home conditions indicate active neglect.

added on edit: Ferrets are not domesticated animals, even though the ferret lovers try to claim they are.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Yes. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. "The parents, who Smythe said have developmental disabilities"

He may have meant 'bad' as in 'nasty'.

[NYC_SKP]

8. I think that has to be the case here, muriel.

And I feel badly for all of them.

Did they even have any friends who would have tried to help, or other family members?

It's just horrible for all involved.

[Mariana]

6. And here I thought the definition of "bad parent"

is a parent who doesn't take care of the children.

[Tsiyu]

7. Some disabled people don't know how. Truly.

Either they don't have the judgment or the skills to parent properly and prioritize, or they had such poor role models - or none - that they have distorted concepts of parenthood.

The ADA means their disabilities have to be accommodated during neglect and dependency cases, but as Manny said above, the funds are depleted so that we may deal with far more urgent needs - for example, Cheney's mobile hospital and the Koch Brothers' avarice for obscene profit.


But how did it get to this point? That's the question.

[rocktivity]

9. Not ENOUGH animal food, apparently.

Last edited Sat Sep 5, 2015, 11:09 AM - Edit history (7)

The(ir)...home... is infested with fleas or mites, according to police. There were several other animals in the house including six cats, two dogs and two turtles.

The only food in the home was a jar of peanut butter, (a) can of cranberry and some juice...There was food for the pets, however.

Here's the doggy playpen they're trying to pass as a ferret cage. And is that the car seat (now on a chair) next to it?

http://static2.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2090071.1422058842!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/ferrets24n-7-web.jpg

An Amazon search of ferret cages reveals not a cloth-walled one on the bunch.

And there are some problems with their story:

The girl's mother had gone upstairs when the mauling took place. She heard the baby screaming and when she came back downstairs found a ferret on the child...The mother threw the animal aside and called for help. It's unclear how long it took the mother to respond to the child's cries.

AddictingInfo.org: According to police, Fraim’s fiancee Jessica left their one-month-old daughter strapped to a car seat on the floor of their Darby home while she went upstairs to join the girl’s father in bed. She returned when she heard screaming, to find the baby had been fed upon by the ferrets...

But if you listen to the video, the father says that Jessica went to the bathroom while he was asleep, that they both came downstairs when they heard the screaming, and that he called 911:

Very clever of those ferrets not to launch their escape and attack until after Mom had left the room. And since Dad wasn't awake, it isn't HIS fault in ANY way, right? That would explain why it's the mother's fault that 911 wasn't called quickly enough -- misogynistic journalism much?

And then there's this:

Addicting Info:...(According to) Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe...“The parents, I believe, have problems...They are challenged. They can’t take care of these kids.”

The family's four other children, aged 5 or below...all have some type of special needs, according to Smythe. He would like them be placed in foster care.

Three social service agencies — Delaware County Children & Youth Services, Northwestern Human Services and Elwyn — have been monitoring the family...Smythe raised questions about how an incident like this could take place in a family that was being investigated....

They're challenged, having a baby a year, AND boarding pets with parasites? If they weren't getting benefits because they are self-supporting, they certainly should have been getting public assistance attention anyway. If the state can't afford to monitor them, put them in foster care -- you can't have it BOTH ways!


rocktvity