Strange

Ferret as Weapon?

by Hugh Askew | November 2, 2009 at 04:51 am

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In a horrible story out of south Florida, a man accused of stealing a ferret, has also been charged for using the same weasel...errr, ferret, as a weapon.

Jacksonville police claim that the cute and cuddly ferret rates as a "special weapon", after it bit a teenager that tried to stop the theft.

In an increasingly violent society, one is left to hope that this doesn't lead to an arms race. What next, using parrots to verbally abuse your victim?

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla.—It's one thing for shoplifters to hide plunder in their pants. But a live ferret? Police said a homeless man in north Florida did just that. And he made it out the door before being challenged. Rodney Bolton, 38, was charged with theft over the $129 animal that police say he took from a pet store in Jacksonville Beach.

A 17-year-old witness confronted Bolton in the parking lot and was bitten by the animal after the man allegedly shoved it in the teen's face.

That confrontation makes the ferret a "special weapon" under Florida law. So Bolton also faces battery charges for dangerously wielding the animal.

Calls to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department to see if Bolton has a lawyer were not answered early Thursday.

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Beaulieu

at 06:57 on November 2nd, 2009

Ferrets can be really nasty. I used to look after one (fortunately I got a good one though) but they can be hard to let go of someone and yet parents have these animals as pets. Ferrets scare rats and they can be terrifying to them which says something;-0. Never underestimate a cute ferret.