Five Month Old Boy Attacked In The Face By Ferret

The call came in to 911 around 11:00AM Sunday morning. According to Ryan…corbin creek spring ad 511b

baby attacked by ferret slider(file photo:)

Smokey Barn News
Sunday March 23, 2014
Coopertown, Tenn.

 Five Month Old Boy Attacked In The Face By Ferret 

A five month old Coopertown infant boy was Lifeflighted to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital after he was attacked in the face by a neighbors pet Ferret, according to Police Sergeant Steven McDougal of the Coopertown Police department.

According to McDougal, the infant did not sustain life threatening injuries but did have lacerations to the face and may lose vision in one eye.

According to Robertson County Emergency Medical Service, Assistant Director, Russell Gupton, the child had numerous lacerations and abrasions to the face, an avulsion to the nose and significant eye and eyelid injury as well as significant bleeding from his wounds. Gupton also said the child was conscious with age appropriate responses.


A
ccording to PJ Duncan, Fire Chief for the Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department the incident occurred at a home near the intersection of Battle Creak and Old Coopertown Rd. EMS and Pleasant View fire transported the infant to a field adjacent to the home where LifeFlight was standing by.

The call came in to 911 around 11:00AM Sunday morning. According to Ryan Martin, the Public Information Officer for the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement will be following up on the incident.  Martin also said the case will likely be forwarded to the Department of  Children’s Services (D.C.S) for further investigation.

According to a police report Smokey obtained from Coopertown Police, the baby’s father stated that the child was put down for a nap and he did hear the child crying but thought he was “just fighting his sleep like he usually does at nap time.” According to the report, the father went to check on the baby and saw the ferret on the child’s face, the father then removed the Ferret and (to summarize) threw the animal down and killed it. The animal was collected by a veterinarian and kept on ice until it could be tested.  The father told police that the ferret is usually on one end of the house and the child on the other.

UPDATE: Tuesday March 25: Though we don’t have any official word from the child’s parents, Police Sergeant Steven McDougal of the Coopertown Police department indicated that the baby was doing better than expected.

Out of respect to the parents Smokey made no attempt to contact the parents of the child. We did however feel that it was in the best interest of the public to be aware of the potential danger that a Ferret can present to a child. According to Sergeant McDougal, the police were contacted about some aggressive news agencies wanting to make contact with the family.

Ferrets are illegal to have as pets in some states but are legal in Tennessee. Ferrets are common pets in the US and are generally friendly. They are often compared to cats in that they sleep a lot and can be trained to use a litter box.

Thoughts and prayers of the staff at Smokey Barn are with the family.

RELATED STORIES:

News Channel 2 reports:  Ferret attacks 5-month-old’s face in Robertson County

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Comments (8)

  1. Drogo March 29, 2014
  2. nicewolf64 March 27, 2014
  3. Concerned ferret owner March 27, 2014
  4. Pete Gould March 27, 2014
  5. Sanctimony is so fun... March 25, 2014
  6. Carolyn March 24, 2014
  7. nicewolf64 March 24, 2014
  8. hailey March 24, 2014
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