That said, I confess I’m always surprised at the way American relate to their pets. You can go to Flickr and see countless pictures of little babies with cats or dogs near them. Some people would say that’s irresponsible, but I do understand that to an owner, the pet can become an integral part of the family —Hell, not to long ago a cat was called into jury duty because their owners had registered as part of the family in the last census!

Pets can enrich the live of a person in a wonderful way. But if the animal ends up behaving like an animal because its owner made the mistake of anthropomorphizing its behavior, then I blame the owner.

I’ve kept ferrets as pets. They can be as loving as your average puppy/kitten, or as aloof and distant as your stereotypical older cat, or they can be biters like some dogs. It really depends on the personality of the individual animal. Some are chewers and some aren’t. Some will curl up in your arms and preen your hair, others will nip at you in an attempt to get you to play. I once owned a pair of brothers (neutered naturally) where one was extremely loving and cuddly, and the other would try his best to bite you unless you picked him up by the scruff and let him calm down first.

My main point is, ferrets aren’t any more or less dangerous than any other small carnivore, and it was clearly irresponsibility on the part of the parents, both in leaving the child unattended where the animal could reach it, and in not properly containing their pet when not supervising his/her play. It isn’t an innate problem with ferrets.