Toddler's Fingertip Bitten Off By Pet Piranha

A little girl is recovering at a hospital after she apparently stuck her hand into the family fish tank and a piranha bit off the tip of her finger this week at their Maine Township home.

The 18-month-old girl was at her home in the Bay Colony residential complex Tuesday night, said Frank Bilecki, a spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

The parents suddenly heard their daughter start crying and rushed over to find her finger bleeding. They became frantic when they found the child's fingertip was severed and automatically believed the culprit was their 65-pound family pit bull, said Bilecki.

They called 911 and an ambulance took her to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where a doctor realized this was not the case.

“He said: ‘This is not a dog bite,’’’ Bilecki said.
Authorities called her father, who was still at the home, and he immediately plunged his hand into the fish bowl, grabbing one of two piranhas.

“He had no fear; these were truly fatherly instincts,’’ Bilecki said. “He grabbed a knife and cut it open and found her fingertip right there.’’

The piece of her finger was taken to the hospital and doctors were trying to re-attach it, but Bilecki did not know if that operation was successful as of Friday afternoon.

“He (father) was so emotional about it they almost had to drive for him,’’ Bilecki said of the sheriff's officers who helped out.

Bilecki said he did not know if the tank, which was close to where the girl was playing, was covered or how the child got access to it.

Bilecki said the mother and father are not facing any citations after the incident.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was called to make sure there were no “issues,’’ said Bilecki, who added that it was his understanding that there were none.

Sheriff’s police, also, did not show any calls at the home.

“We checked out logs to see if we had any other previous calls and there were none whatsoever,’’ Bilecki said.

“The parents are truly distraught and freaked out by the incident,’’ said Bilecki. “They appear to be good parents in an unfortunate situation.’’

The girl is their only child and no other children live at the home, said Bilecki.

Why do people own things like this when they have children? I will never understand it. I guess they are distraught by this. I would be too...But it was totally preventable! Nobody needs a piranha.

Just when you think common sense is making a comeback...

Should parents be charged in these cases ?

Read more here...

www.chicagotribune.com...

Should parents be charged in these cases ?

No. Unless you enjoy a police state. A fingertip isn't a big deal.

Don't poke the bear...

Something we all learn sooner or later.

Callous? Sure. But we all learn not to touch a hot stove and it is what we learn at an early age that protects through our life.

It was only a bite. Dogs snap, cats scratch and kids wipe boogers on each other. We learn.

Peace

Originally posted by jude11
Don't poke the bear...

Something we all learn sooner or later.

Callous? Sure. But we all learn not to touch a hot stove and it is what we learn at an early age that protects through our life.

It was only a bite. Dogs snap, cats scratch and kids wipe boogers on each other. We learn.

Peace

Not boogers!!!

I am right there with you on the whole learning thing, but they had to try and reattach the fingertip! The article stated that they weren't sure if it would take or not. She might not ever want to go fishing after this one. Eeek.

ETA that back in the day if I had done this my dad would have said... "Hurt like hell didn't it?"

Piranha are not pets. That's the place you hide your valuables :-)

Having said that, no parent of tiny children should keep piranha, especially in a tank with no lid??????

sheesh.

Originally posted by Kangaruex4Ewe

Originally posted by jude11
Don't poke the bear...

Something we all learn sooner or later.

Callous? Sure. But we all learn not to touch a hot stove and it is what we learn at an early age that protects through our life.

It was only a bite. Dogs snap, cats scratch and kids wipe boogers on each other. We learn.

Peace

Not boogers!!!

I am right there with you on the whole learning thing, but they had to try and reattach the fingertip! The article stated that they weren't sure if it would take or not. She might not ever want to go fishing after this one. Eeek.

ETA that back in the day if I had done this my dad would have said... "Hurt like hell didn't it?"

edit on 6/23/2012 by Kangaruex4Ewe because: (no reason given)

Yup.

And my dad would have said..."Did it hurt when you did that??

"Yes"

"Then don't do it"

And mankind evolved.

Peace

reply to post by jude11


I agree. My son has a fascination with fire ant nests. He won't leave them alone, no matter how many times i try and stop him or scold him. The day he comes running to me all covered in stinging ants will be the last time he messes with them.

My parents were the same but i think a fingertip off of a baby is a bit dramatic, seeing how a Piranha isn't exactly a common thing in a household that a child would need to learn about so quickly and painfully. A bit of common sense could have prevented it.

Has anyone checked to see if the Piranha was on bath salts? They may have inadvertently used them while trying to clean the tank. And this is a definitive case of flesh eating due to zombism.

I think we should be more vigilant, strike down these fiends in their tracks and incarcerate the entire family. Think of the children... the children people.

First it's piranhas.. next it will be



In other news, is this any different to having a dangerous breed of dog that was bred for it's traits in attacking with extreme blood lust? If the parents were neglectful in allowing the child to have unmonitored access to the piranha then they should be responsible, much the same as if they were responsible for letting a pitt bull escape it's property (due to neglegence) and it attacked someone.

These fish are not pets. You could also argue that if the parents kept wild mud crabs in a tank, and it snipped off 3 fingers, it is still the responsibility of the legal guardians to ensure access is not possible OR that they are watching the entire time.

Weird.

Time for a bath...

reply to post by mainidh


Dang it, you beat me to it. As soon as I saw the thread title, I knew exactly what I wanted to say!

Zombie piranhas!

reply to post by SolarE-Souljah


lol, haha, sorry about that

it's getting that way huh..

The parents suddenly heard their daughter start crying and rushed over to find her finger bleeding. They became frantic when they found the child's fingertip was severed and automatically believed the culprit was their 65-pound family pit bull, said Bilecki.

They have an 18 month old child and their pets are a pit bull and two piranhas. What could possibly go wrong?

When i was a kid, we had a Piranha called Oscar.

The tank was high off the ground and had a lid, but i always fed him. I was probably about 7 or 8. I never stuck my hand in the tank, just dropped white bait in there and Oscar would always hide behind an ornamental plant as if he was scared out of his poor little mind. He was a bit of a wimpy Piranha.
I was actually more afraid of our pet Terrapins, Hamsters and Bunnies, as they did tend to bite on occasion. Although I think if we had 2 or more Piranhas in the same tank they would be more menacing as they tend to be more bold when in a group.

The first thing that comes to mind about this story, isn't about the Parents owning 2 Pirhanas. It's the likely fact that they obviously had the tank low enough (without a lid) for an 18 month old to be able to stick her hand in and get bitten. That's just plain old stupidity to me.

Edit: And on another note....Pitbulls are only as dangerous as their owners make them. If they are very well trained, cared for, loved and respected. They are just as loyal and friendly as any other dog. Just as any other dog who is not well trained, cared for, loved and respected could turn around and bite a chunk out of you if given half the chance.

One day a lady finds a snake frozen in the snow, she takes it home and nurses it back to health,weeks later the lady was cleaning and the snake bit her,as she lay there dying she asks the snake " after all i did for you,why would you do this to me?"and the snake replied "what did you expect i am a snake".

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


Oh poor little mite!!
Her parents should have definitely had a proper locked lid on the piranha tank...
Common sense needed.

Oh well,at least it was only a fingertip-could have been a lot worse.

Unfortinate accidents will happen. I lost my fingertip in a door when I was young. Should doors be removed? Should my parents have been charged? No accidents happen but there should have been a locked lid on this aquarium that wasn`t made child proof is all.

So this guy gutted the fish and retrieved the fingertip upon finding out it wasn`t the dog. So just how is this dog now?
Do they still have a Dog?

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


oh how i wish i was there to see it.

gotta love the parents huh?

same goes for geniuses who have rots, pit bulls, or mastifs near new borns.

i remember seeing plenty of news casts of eatin babies

Originally posted by soon2beaher
reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe

 

same goes for geniuses who have rots, pit bulls, or mastifs near new borns.

i remember seeing plenty of news casts of eatin babies

Ugh, exactly how many news casts?

These breeds get an incredibly bad name by the media. You never here about other breeds of dogs attacking children and adults which they do quite often. But as soon as a Rotty, Staffy, Pitbull or a similar breed attacks a child or adult, the media makes it front page news.

Read what i wrote here, this is in my post above;

Edit: And on another note....Pitbulls are only as dangerous as their owners make them. If they are very well trained, cared for, loved and respected. They are just as loyal and friendly as any other dog. Just as any other dog who is not well trained, cared for, loved and respected could turn around and bite a chunk out of you if given half the chance.

reply to post by Connman


It didn't specify if they still had the dog or not. I suppose they do. I went back and forth with the pitbull issue like the other posters here.

They were quick to blame the dog though. I imagine they didn't take the dog since the father did find the fingertip in the fish.

Originally posted by skitzspiricy

Originally posted by soon2beaher
reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe

 

same goes for geniuses who have rots, pit bulls, or mastifs near new borns.

i remember seeing plenty of news casts of eatin babies

Ugh, exactly how many news casts?

These breeds get an incredibly bad name by the media. You never here about other breeds of dogs attacking children and adults which they do quite often. But as soon as a Rotty, Staffy, Pitbull or a similar breed attacks a child or adult, the media makes it front page news.

Read what i wrote here, this is in my post above;

Edit: And on another note....Pitbulls are only as dangerous as their owners make them. If they are very well trained, cared for, loved and respected. They are just as loyal and friendly as any other dog. Just as any other dog who is not well trained, cared for, loved and respected could turn around and bite a chunk out of you if given half the chance.

They have a reputation for sure. I am a dog lover but I discriminate equally. I get nervous with any dog around a baby that is as big or bigger than the baby itself. As much as I love them, they are still animals and can not always be trusted to NOT act like an animal. I don't think it's just Pitts though. I think it is an animal thing. 5,000 dogs would love and lick a baby, then the next one wants to shake it like they do the squeak toy, It's a shame owners help breeds get such a bad name.

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


Automatically assumed it was the pitbull? These people shouldn't have pets or kids. Morons.

I had a pitbull for 15 years, and if my children screamed about something, the last thing that would have went through my head was the dog. If it had been any other way, I wouldn't have had the dog. If there was any doubt in my mind that the dog might bite the kids, I wouldn't have had the dog.

If the parents automatically assumed it was the pitbull, but it turned out to be the PIRANHA!, then there are definitely "issues" with the household.

What a moronic story.

I am also a fan of "natural consequences." Stick your finger in a piranha tank, get bit, and that won't happen again. But piranha have really small mouths, so if the whole tip of her finger was bit off, then she was extremely small, and her parents should have realized she had crawled up onto an area above a PIRANHA TANK!

MORONS!