ENTON, La. - A woman jailed after four of her infant daughter's toes were gnawed off says the family's pet ferret did it, not their pit bull pup as police had said.

But her husband blames the dog, a city official said.

"The way the bite marks were on her foot, the ferret being out of its cage, I knew it wasn't the dog," Mary Hansche told KTBS-TV on Tuesday.

The month-old girl was injured Dec. 10 as Hansche, 22, and her husband, Christopher Hansche, 26, slept; they woke up when they heard her crying. The parents were jailed in lieu of $50,000 bond each, booked with child desertion and criminal negligence.

The husband had blamed the dog and told police the ferret had been in its cage all night, Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale said Wednesday.

The charges wouldn't change regardless of which pet was involved, Natale said, because the baby "was injured by an animal while in the custody of the parents." The girl has been released from the hospital and is in state custody.

Attorney Pam Smart said she is waiting for results of a hair analysis to back up the couple's statement that they were not using drugs, calling the case a "very unfortunate accident."

That poor baby!

I read this on CNN.... hum.. ive owned Ferrets...never ever thought they might chew off my toes... they like to hide tampons and hair bobbles lol but i dont see them knawing on baby toes... and they didnt hear her crying before 4 toes were gone??

hey Nell,
what is a hair bobble?

This is a really strange story.

It's sad that the baby & the pets have to suffer because of these people ignorance. Everyone knows not to leave an infant or any child for that matter alone with an animal your putting them both at risk of getting hurt. I don't get how they didnt hear her screaming bloody murder while she was getting her toes gnawed on,not matter how sleep deprived they were an since they said she was sleeping beside them. When my little cousin comes to stay all night he can be in the next room an everytime he wakes up crying I wake up too and im not even the one taking care of him. I dont buy that they didnt hear her because she would have more then likely been hysterical an a newborn baby when it gets that upset sounds like an air horn.

i agree with dat!

NELL, THEY ALSO OWN A PIT BULL THAT THEY INSIST IS INNOCENT!!! CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WOULD DEFEND THAT **** DOG IF IT DID DO IT!!!

That pitbull is a 7 week old puppy that was just recently taken from its momma. If anything it would've s uck led on the baby's toes and the authorities know it didn't do it. It's obvious the ferret did it. I read the first yahoo news story that came out before this one.

WELL, IN THAT CASE, YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE A FERRET TO EAT 4 TOES? THOSE PEOPLE HAD TO OF LEFT THE BABY ALONE.. FOR THEM NOT TO HEAR THE SCREAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!

JMO, I don't think it matters which pet did it. The point is this baby suffered terrible violence becuz the parents were criminally negligent.
To do nothing when your baby is suffering is inhuman. A baby's cry is hard to listen to when it's just hungry or lonely; I can't imagine how horrible a baby's cry would be when it was enduring what would be terrible pain for anyone, let alone an infant.

I'm glad they're testing for drugs. To ignore terrible cries for what was probably a considerable length of time certainly makes you think they might have passed out in a drug or alcohol haze.

THESE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED CUSTODY OF THEIR BABY OR ALLOWED TO HAVE PETS. Grrrrr!!