One-month-old baby girl loses A QUARTER of her face after being mauled by three pet ferrets in her parents' dining room

PENNSYLVANIA -- A one-month-old baby girl has lost up to 25 per cent of her face after being mauled by three pet ferrets at her family's home, police said on Friday.

Skyy Isabelle Fraime was reportedly placed in a car seat and left on the floor of the dining room at the house in Darby Borough, Pennsylvania, on Thursday while her parents went upstairs.

A short time later, the family's three ferrets escaped from their nearby cloth-like cage and ran over to the lone infant. They attacked her, sinking their teeth into her lips, nose and other facial areas.

 

Skyy was rushed to hospital with serious wounds. Although she is listed as being in a 'stable' condition, she is receiving assistance breathing in intensive care due to the injuries to her nose.

She is also likely to need multiple surgeries in future years to rebuild her face, ABC 6 reported.

Speaking to the news station, Skyy's father, Burnie Fraime, who is engaged to the baby's mother, Jessica Benales, said: 'I went over to grab the baby... half her face was messed up from the ferrets.'

On Friday, Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe described the girl's injuries - which occurred at around 3.30pm on Thursday - as 'the worst' he has seen in nearly 45 years working for the force.

“I’ll be 45 years in June in Darby [with the police department], and this is the worst I’ve ever seen,' he told the Delaware County Daily Times. 'I thought I’d seen everything.

'This child, the center of [her] face is missing. Her nose was gone, [and so was] part of her cheek and part of her lip. I don’t know how much of that got replaced.'

The pet animals escaped out of this cloth-like cage

He added: 'Just imagine that one-month-old baby, that can’t help herself, [and] two or three animals are eating it alive. Imagine the pain.'

At the time of the incident, Mr Fraime and Miss Benales were upstairs at their home in the 300 block of Poplar Street, Mr Smythe said. They reportedly rushed downstairs after hearing loud screaming.

They found Skyy sporting serious injuries to her face and called 911. The baby was taken to the Children’s Hopsital of Philadelphia, where two stents were immediately inserted into her nose.

'The ferrets ran when the mom came down,' Mr Smythe Said. '[The baby] had emergency surgery. The last I heard she was in stable [condition], but she was in intensive care.'

He added that the couple - who have four other young children - are in crisis. They were reportedly clients of Delaware County Child & Youth Services before Thursday's tragedy.

Ferrets, part of the weasel family, are legal to own as
pets in the state of Pennsylvania (file picture)

'The parents, I believe, have problems,' he said. 'They are challenged. They can’t take care of these kids.' The couple's four other children are now in the custody of Child & Youth Services.

When told about the incident, neighbors in Poplar Street were shocked. Thomas Collins said: 'Oh my god, that's terrible,' while Josephine Pour said: 'It's really shocking to hear stuff like that.'

Ferrets, which are part of the weasel family, are legal to own as pets in the state of Pennsylvania.

No charges have yet been filed. An investigation is ongoing. 

(Daily Mail - Jan 23, 2015)