For All You Exotic Pet Owners

[Wild Bill]

These dumb asses didn't deserve to be parents, and now they're not.

 

Pet Python Strangles Child, Officials Say

By MIKE SCHNEIDER, AP

 

OXFORD, Fla. (July 1) – A pet Burmese python measuring more than 8 feet long broke out of a terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom Wednesday at a central Florida home, authorities said. Shaiunna Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at about 10 a.m., Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said.

 

Charles Jason Darnell, the snake's owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna's mother, discovered the snake missing from its terrarium and went to the girl's room, where he found it on the girl and bite marks on her head, Caruthers said. Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.

 

 

"The baby's dead!" a sobbing caller from the house screamed to a 911 dispatcher in a recording. "Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby."

 

Authorities did not identify the caller and removed the person's name from the recording.

"She got out of the cage last night and got into the baby's crib and strangled her to death," the caller said.

 

Authorities removed the snake from the home Wednesday afternoon after obtaining a search warrant. Once outside the small, tan home, bordered by cow pastures, the snake was placed in a bag then inside a dog crate. The snake was still alive.

 

Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, which would be a second-degree misdemeanor, said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He has not been charged, but Caruthers said investigators were looking into whether there was child neglect or if any other laws were broken.

 

Hill said the snake will be placed with someone who has a permit, pending an investigation into the girl's death.

 

The Humane Society of the United States said including Wednesday's death, at least 12 people have been killed in the U.S. by pet pythons since 1980, including five children.

 

Burmese pythons are not native to Florida, but they easily survive in the state and can reach a length of 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.

 

Some owners have freed pythons into the wild and a population of them has taken hold in the Everglades. One killed an alligator and then burst when it tried to eat it. Scientists also speculate a bevy of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.

 

"It's becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human," said Jorge Pino, a state wildlife commission spokesman. "People purchase these animals when they're small. When they grow, they either can't control them or release them."

 

George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World Serpentarium in St. Cloud, said the strangulation could have occurred because the snake felt threatened or because it thought the child was food.

"They are always operating on instinct," he said. "Even the largest person can become overpowered by a python."

 

Oxford is about 50 miles northwest of Orlando.

 

http://news.aol.com/article/python-strangles-child/552884

[bennychico11]

and that's why I own a dog

[T_O_Bull]

That's why I own a machette. These creatures have taken over the everglades because they have no natural enemies. When will we humans stop fooling with mother nature.

T_O_B

[HuskerJen]

It's too bad these parents can't be charged, and prosecuted, for stupidity in the 1st degree.

[redout22]

That is really sad

[TXHSKR]

IMO Snakes make fine boots, other than that I have no use for them.

[Blackshirtsguru]

That's why I own a machette. These creatures have taken over the everglades because they have no natural enemies. When will we humans stop fooling with mother nature.

T_O_B

 

 

Those MF'ers are now swimming in the canals and coming up to people's back yards here. We had a 9 footer the other day. We called some ole redneck Okeechobee boys to come down and take care of it. Those guys are some of the funniest guys I have ever met. It's like they are stuck in the 80's. Each one had a mullet and some type of 80's rock band concert t-shirt on. Hey as long as they catch gators and snakes, they are A-1 in my book!

[I See Red People]

This is why people should have "qualify" to have children.

 

Poor kid.

[Touchdown Tommie]

Wow....what a sad story. This guy is a f'ing moron to have this "pet" near a small child.