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Parents arrested after baby has up to 200 rat bites
KMTR ^ | May 4, 2006 | AP

Posted on 05/04/2006 4:39:12 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy

A six-month-old Medford baby was bitten by a rat up to 200 times after it escaped from its cage in the boy's room.

Police say the parents, 21-year-old Robert Horsfall and 19-year-old Maegan McCleary, found the rodent near a creek.

Police say they took the infant to the emergency room at Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford. Detectives say the parents apparently believed the rat was a domestic breed.

They brought it home and kept it in a cage in the room where they slept with the baby.

The next morning they found that the rat had escaped and bitten the boy. He had from 100 to 200 bites all over his body, including his face. He is being treated for infected wounds.

A second child at the home was placed in foster care.

The parents are being held in the Jackson County Jail on criminal mistreatment allegations.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: abuse; idiots; kerryvoters; neglect; stupid; stupidparents; wildanimal
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To: after dark
Still, I would rather the baby stay with them.

You have got to be kidding.

Ignore for a moment that they found a rat outside and brought it home as a pet. Ignore for a moment that they decided to keep it in the same room as their baby.

The rat bit the baby 100 to 200 times while they were sleeping in the same room. How many hours was the baby screaming at the top of its lungs before they checked on it?

They had to be passed out drunk or on drugs. There is no other explanation.

21 posted on 05/04/2006 5:46:41 PM PDT by Bubba_Leroy (What did Rather know and when did he know it?)
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To: Bubba_Leroy

"Who the hell finds a rat and brings it home as a pet? "

Here's a guess: The same kind of folks who have kids at a young age out of wedlock.


22 posted on 05/04/2006 6:10:24 PM PDT by WOSG (http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com/)
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To: Bubba_Leroy; ken in texas
Both of you are falling into the trap of thinking foster care will prevent bad things from happening to poor children.Most of the foster care children I have met have been treated horribly by the foster care system. Bubba ,I doubt it takes a rat long to bite an hundred times. Dogs and cats are capable of killing with one bite.You are opening the door for parents who are dog and cat owners to be scrutinized by CPS. Unless these two young people really are on drugs ,there still may be hope of teaching these two proper parenting skills.Don't believe for one moment that foster care will give this baby to Daddy Warbucks. Even impoverished parents love their kids more than a foster mother who knows the state can take her foster children away at any time. Also notice how intolerant C.P.S. is of impoverished white people. If this couple had been illegal immigrants , we would never have heard of this and the baby would have quietly have been returned to the parents.
23 posted on 05/04/2006 6:19:11 PM PDT by after dark
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To: after dark
Both of you are falling into the trap of thinking foster care will prevent bad things from happening to poor children...

Sorry bud... I've not fallen into any trap. I realize that foster care is not a cure-all, but this family is not off to a good start. Please don't get holier-than-thou here.

24 posted on 05/04/2006 6:30:53 PM PDT by ken in texas (come fold with us.... team #36120)
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To: raj bhatia
"I hope these nitwits goto prison."

What do you consider them to be guilty of? (other than the obvious degree of stupidity and recklessness)

And I'm not trying to criticize your statement - I'm just curious.

25 posted on 05/04/2006 6:41:11 PM PDT by Nova
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To: Kenny500c
"Strap the parents down in a cell with 100 hungry rats for a just punishment."

Even if they're not junkies?

Many here appear to believe that the baby had to have been screaming for some time, and that the parents must have been zombied out on drugs.

But what if that's not truly the case and the parents were just stupid; would you still say that?

26 posted on 05/04/2006 6:55:18 PM PDT by Nova
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To: Arthalion

I've had pet rats as well and while they're incredibly smart and gentle, it did take a while for each of the two older females to get used to being handled, and being handled specifically by me. I did get bitten a few times while learning the difference between how books and websites say to handle a rat and how to really safely and comfortably handle one!

From that, I can say with complete assurance that if a rat bites a baby enough to leave 200 bite marks, they're going to be HOWLING. I admit to saying a few not so nice things myself and having tears brought to my eyes a time or two, and I was about 22 when I had them.

Did I mention I never got nailed more than once at a time?


27 posted on 05/04/2006 7:02:38 PM PDT by Fire_on_High (I am so proud of what we were...)
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To: ken in texas

The article only established that these two are ignorant ,poor, and young. Ignorant people can usually be taught. They have certainly learned they can not keep rats as pets. Spare me any diatribes about how poor people should not be allowed to keep children. CPS should make them take parenting classes and visit them to make sure they follow through on what they learn .


28 posted on 05/04/2006 7:11:35 PM PDT by after dark
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To: after dark
Spare me any diatribes about how poor people should not be allowed to keep children.

I never said that... if you think I did go take a remedial reading course. Goodbye.

29 posted on 05/04/2006 7:15:08 PM PDT by ken in texas (come fold with us.... team #36120)
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To: Fire_on_High
This was a wild rat. I am not a rat expert but they are scavengers which means they must eat their food fast.I have seen videos of a rat gnawing through rope. They can probably bite more than a hundred times in a minute.
30 posted on 05/04/2006 7:20:10 PM PDT by after dark
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To: after dark

Butting in here....
I don't trust CPS to be competent enough to follow through.I'm not sure what an alternative oversight dept. would be.
Anyway I would fear that something would happen to the children once they regain custody and in between those follow up visits. So many children get lost in the system, and frankly there isn't a child welfare system that I would put much faith in.
Did the article say these young people were poor?


31 posted on 05/04/2006 7:21:55 PM PDT by mother22wife21 ("When preferences become principles then anything anyone chooses to do will become acceptable...")
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To: ken in texas

Oh my! I fear I have offended you. You meant to write reeducation camp. Trust me I have read more books than your kind will ever read !


32 posted on 05/04/2006 7:40:24 PM PDT by after dark
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To: mother22wife21
CPS does need to be reformed . The excuse that there are not enough social workers to check up on these people does not wash. I think foster families get visited once a week. This child has survived for six months. Neglectful parents would not have taken the baby to an emergency room.I think these people could learn to be good parents. You sound like someone who would like to take care of the whole world.If those kids are put into foster care there is a greater chance they will be lost in the system.I would rather see children with loving parents who sometimes make mistakes than with smart but indifferent foster parents.Children really want to be loved by those who take care of them.
33 posted on 05/04/2006 7:56:35 PM PDT by after dark
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To: Nova
Endangering the life of an infant. Not a straight comparison, but its like locking an adult up with someone else's pit bull. In a rat vs. 6-month old case, the rat will win hands down.
34 posted on 05/04/2006 9:02:15 PM PDT by raj bhatia
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To: raj bhatia

I'm rather surprised at the anger and outrage directed at these parents; but at the same time, I'm comforted by the realization that you would have put my parents' heads on pikes.


35 posted on 05/04/2006 9:37:37 PM PDT by Nova
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To: raj bhatia
These people kept the rat in a cage. It was not their intention to allow the baby and the rat to play together. The rat escaped from the cage.All the rat needed was two minutes to bite the baby 200 times. This is a tragic story. Unless the state can find more proof of abuse and neglect , the state should return the baby. Those simpletons just saw rats in pets stores and assumed rats were safe. Foster care has done way more damage to children than those simpletons .
36 posted on 05/04/2006 9:52:12 PM PDT by after dark
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To: martin_fierro

Is Siberian hamster!

37 posted on 05/05/2006 7:58:10 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: martin_fierro

I know I shouldn't say this, but shouldn't there be some kind of law against two lobotomy patients being allowed to breed?


38 posted on 05/05/2006 8:21:49 AM PDT by JewishRighter
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To: Bubba_Leroy

Tie the parents up and let the hungry rat loose to bite them. See if their perception changes...


39 posted on 05/05/2006 9:36:47 AM PDT by Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin
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To: JewishRighter

"I know I shouldn't say this, but shouldn't there be some kind of law against two lobotomy patients being allowed to breed?"

Once there were some people who had the same idea. To make a long story short, they pushed that idea to its ultimate conclusion ,and things did not work out very well.Would you like to repeat history?


40 posted on 05/05/2006 9:36:54 AM PDT by after dark
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