wruley: This is a sad story, but the problem is pets are animals in captivity. It doesn't mean they are happy or domesticated. This could happen with a variety of pets, and actually probably does.

I have a 105 pound german shepherd that was trained as a police K9. He was injured during training and retired, and we got him from the kenel through a friend.

He fell in love with my daughter and spends as much time with her as possible, including sleeping with her in her bed at night. He growls at me every morning when I come in the room wake her up. And don't even think about pretending to hit her. The next thing you will see is paws and teeth. The dog is definitely over protective.

If he went insane for just a few, he could kill her easily. Then you guys would be writing nasty messages about me.

/Daughter is now 15

We have a 4 y/o maltese/Pekinese mix. Loves us like crazy, but hates/tolerates/likes most other people. Trouble is, she's unpredictable. There's no pattern, whether it's friend/stranger, male/female, young/old. Luckily she loves our 3 y/o grandaughter.

gulogulo: Potential shennanigans, sure..anything is possible. Snakes do take on very large prey, and the size of that snake isn't completely out of the realm of taking a small toddler. It's impossible to tell its condition merely by its picture, or when its last meal was. They are opportunistic animals, not specialists, so that it always fed on mice and rats does not mean it is all it will feed on. Might of it bitten off more than it could chew? Sure, that happens too in the animal world.

Consider the burmese python that took on the alligator

Protip:

If the animal could possibly view you as a menu item, it is more likely than not a good candidate as a Pet.

/snakes have no Personality

chetbango: sendnoodz: OK am I the only one calling potential shenagins on this story?

Growing up I used to work in exotic pet stores and zoo's and have way more then a basic understanding of herpetology. I have worked with many Burmese pythons over the years and a lot about this story does not make sense to me. The first thing that strikes me funny about this incident is why the python would be in the babys crib, this was most likely a captive bred animal and has been raised as a "pet" for many years, its diet is mostly like either live or frozen feeder rats, and from the look of the snake in the picture it was in good health and did not appear to be underfed, so if the snake did out it would not be actively searching for food and if in fact the snake did somehow decide to climb up into a crib with a baby rather then find someplace dark to hide in the baby would be way too large for the snake to eat and the snake would know this you can see from the size of the snake that there is now way a Burmese python that size could eat a two year old child, a Burmese python is not going to try to constrict something it cant eat, if it feels threaten it will bite then try to get away. Now if for some reason the snake did in fact try to eat this baby which is the only way it would constrict it and kill, it would strike first (bite) then wrap its body around the baby, this bite would be very painful and the baby would immediately wake up and start crying and screaming and the constriction process takes a bit of time, as the snakes victim breaths out the snake wraps tighter and tighter until its prey can no longer breath this can take many minutes so someone would have had to have heard this happening, yet they say they found the baby dead in the morning and that it had been crushed by the snake.

I don't think its too far fetched to believe some hilly billy parents might have intentionally or unintentionally killed there kid and then blamed it on the pet snake.

I thought something similar, although I don't know much about snakes, just that an 8foot snake would have a hard time eating a toddler.

Well thats the thing, it would not just have a tough time it would be impossible, and while snakes are not the smartest animals in the world they at least know whether or not something is too big for them to eat, and if the snake was not trying to feed then it would have no reason to constrict the baby and kill it. Like I said this could be some crazy scenario, where this in fact did happen, but my many years of experience with these animals all leaves a lot of questions open, hopefully when they examine the body they will know what to look for, if the baby does not have any bite marks from the snake then there is more then a good possibility that it was not responsible for that child's death

maxximillian: TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

1)✓
2)✓
3)✓
How you doin?

/I used to live in tally, was happy to see Leon Pub made the list of best bars in fl on some foxnews story this morning.

Another FARK love connection!

/be back in 2 and 2

as a snake owner, I am not getting a kick....

a lot of you have some really weird assumptions going on about me.

Clearly, I am a thoughtless asshole with no regard for the safety of others. I also have a penis deficiency issue.

Thanks from me and the menagerie.

(1 BCI, 1 Bearded Dragon, 1 cat, 1 horse, and 1 Giant Slobbering Dog{Mastiff})

pottie: Protip:

If the animal could possibly view you as a menu item, it is more likely than not a good candidate as a Pet.

/snakes have no Personality

My Lawyah would be an example of that.

John Buck 41: wruley: This is a sad story, but the problem is pets are animals in captivity. It doesn't mean they are happy or domesticated. This could happen with a variety of pets, and actually probably does.

I have a 105 pound german shepherd that was trained as a police K9. He was injured during training and retired, and we got him from the kenel through a friend.

He fell in love with my daughter and spends as much time with her as possible, including sleeping with her in her bed at night. He growls at me every morning when I come in the room wake her up. And don't even think about pretending to hit her. The next thing you will see is paws and teeth. The dog is definitely over protective.

If he went insane for just a few, he could kill her easily. Then you guys would be writing nasty messages about me.

/Daughter is now 15

We have a 4 y/o maltese/Pekinese mix. Loves us like crazy, but hates/tolerates/likes most other people. Trouble is, she's unpredictable. There's no pattern, whether it's friend/stranger, male/female, young/old. Luckily she loves our 3 y/o grandaughter.

Grew up with a pure bread Dalmatian that was pretty much the same way. Far more threatening than any of the turtles I keep now.

Snakes of this size should require license to keep. Not only for the safety of those in the house, but for the health and welfare of the snake.

Seriously? A wooden board over a glass aquarium?

A lot of wharrgarbl up in here, so let me lay down the Wisdom.

Pit Bulls have been systematically bred for generations for the following qualities:

- Athleticism (Muscle)
- Tenacity ('Gameness')
- Aggression towards other dogs and small mammals

Pit Bulls are BY DEFINITION more dangerous than other dogs- they are bred to be. To pretend otherwise is ignorant, disingenuous, or both.

Burmese Pythons are large, carnivorous reptiles. Millions of years of evolution have produced an eight-foot-long muscular predator, feeding primarily on small mammals.

Burmese Pythons are more dangerous than other pets- to pretend otherwise is ignorant, disingenuous, or both.

Keeping a dangerous pet requires diligence and vigilance on the part of the owner, in the following ways:

- Care (Feeding, Health)
- Training
- Management (Physical and Behavioral)

In the case of Pit Bulls, it requires spaying/neutering, proper training and dog socialization, and effective restraint (6-foot fences, leashes, etc.) A failure on any of these fronts runs the risk of tragedy.

In the case of Burmese Pythons, training is not an option. Regular feeding is recommended, and proper lock-and-key restraint is REQUIRED. A failure on either of these fronts runs the risk of tragedy.

The inherent problem with dangerous pets is that the types of people who want to own them tend NOT to be committed to proper vigilance and diligence. (Read: White Trash. There, I said it.) Hence the frequency of tragic incidents involving dangerous pets.

(Full Disclosure: Owner of a 100+ lb. dog with an unknown amount of Pit Bull lineage. I have a 6-foot fence, and he is neutered and does not run free.)

TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

Hey, I used to have a job.

//?

Is there an echo in here?

sendnoodz: my many years of experience with these animals all leaves a lot of questions open

I only question this assessment as exotic pet stores usually sell juvenile or baby Burmese pythons in a very controlled environment. I'm not sure how that tells you that this is impossible by merely looking at a picture (particularly your assumption that it wasn't trying to feed). They do not always know when something is too big for them to handle. Animals do it all the time, taking on something they cannot possibly take down until they learn otherwise. If it appears an easy target, the snake might take the chance. It ultimately may not have been able to get its jaws around it, but it might have tried.

The are conducting an autopsy on the 2 yr old girl.

Just exactly... what are they trying to find that they don't already know?

Autopsy Story

They need to do an autopsy on the snake. They might find the neighbor's kids.

Donor:
You should be mad at the owners for not training the animal, not the animal for being an animal. Most owners get pitbulls as a "guard-dog", but most lack the ability to effectively train them.

That's true for the Pit that killed my dog, and for the one that chased me down...

But the others, like my friend whose daughter's arm was mauled... it was a SWEETHEART. Non aggressive, just like the owners. They had it since it's birth. There was nothing to explain why it turned, and it did.

Just like the one that killed my buddy's heeler. SWEETHEART, with non aggressive owners. It just turned.

As for the dog park incident, we have no idea what the owners were really like, but at the scene, my friend says she was told by the owners that "Francie (the pit) NEVER showed any aggression towards another dog before".

TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

Pff someone's being too picky.

thelessa: (1 BCI, 1 Bearded Dragon, 1 cat, 1 horse, and 1 Giant Slobbering Dog{Mastiff})

Wow. You are really farked up.

cowgirl toffee: The are conducting an autopsy on the 2 yr old girl.

Just exactly... what are they trying to find that they don't already know?

Autopsy Story

They need to do an autopsy on the snake. They might find the neighbor's kids.

Good Footwork, they say they found "bite marks" so far, this could be real. But still REAL STUPID.

Where's Farkdo: My trouser snake never hurt anyone

/one of my regrets

However, I still recommend keeping it away from toddlers.

trueaustinite: I dated this girl back in grad school. She had a couple of cats. She thought it was really cute how they would bat little objects around and simulate capturing and killing things.

She told me they loved her. I told her they didn't and explained that she would dead as farkin' fried chicken if she were to suddenly become two inches tall.

That's just bizarre. You might just as well say that if cats had bewbs and it felt good you would...never mind.

Anyone who names their daughter "Shaiunna" is immediately stricken from the "great dad" list.

/how do you even pronounce that?

reillan: Wait, I'm confused. Who died?

Exactly. Subby fails at making a coherent headline.

Rapmaster2000: Ugh. Dangerous animal people. Here's a tip, your python is not substitute for a personality.

Neither are all of the ridiculous yuppie accouterments that you see owning people these days.

But they are still widely abused.

Get a life.

sendnoodz Quote 2009-07-02 02:04:21 PM

I don't think its too far fetched to believe some hilly billy parents might have intentionally or unintentionally killed there kid and then blamed it on the pet snake.


Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me, and it was also my second thought, right after "how stupid could some one be with a large reptile?".

ksmell: Anyone who names their daughter "Shaiunna" is immediately stricken from the "great dad" list.

/how do you even pronounce that?

Almost as bad as Chamique.

//Sha-MEEK-wa

santadog: Donor:
You should be mad at the owners for not training the animal, not the animal for being an animal. Most owners get pitbulls as a "guard-dog", but most lack the ability to effectively train them.

That's true for the Pit that killed my dog, and for the one that chased me down...

But the others, like my friend whose daughter's arm was mauled... it was a SWEETHEART. Non aggressive, just like the owners. They had it since it's birth. There was nothing to explain why it turned, and it did.

Just like the one that killed my buddy's heeler. SWEETHEART, with non aggressive owners. It just turned.

I wouldn't suspect the kid to be totally innocent. I've seen kids pulll on dogs' ears/legs, take food away from them, and the like which inevitably results in aggression towards the kid. I've seen this in little yipper dogs all the way up to pits. Typically the kid cries and says she didn't do anything, but they know not to pull on a dog's ears anymore for sure.

Pits can be territorial which may explain the dog incident.

But animals are animals, and should be treated as such. I can't stand people that let their little yipper dogs off the leash and act all "she's just a little thing". Worst bite I've ever gotten was from a chihuahua actually, mean little bastards.

Sybarite: I don't even consider snakes as "pets". A pet has to be able to form some kind of reciprocal relationship with its owner. Snakes have no idea who you are.

I used to own a boa and it seemed to "know" me from other people. It may have just associated my smell with food, water and shelter/safty. But it would coil up and watch tv with me. It seemed to really like racing, it would way and follow a particular car/bike.

ichironin: I used to own a boa and it seemed to "know" me from other people. It may have just associated my smell with food, water and shelter/safty. But it would coil up and watch tv with me. It seemed to really like racing, it would way and follow a particular car/bike.

Pass the bong.

trueaustinite Quote 2009-07-02 03:00:06 PM
thelessa: (1 BCI, 1 Bearded Dragon, 1 cat, 1 horse, and 1 Giant Slobbering Dog{Mastiff})

Wow. You are really farked up.



Thanks for noticing. The horse and cat were inherited when my mother passed away. The reptiles had no where else to go. Shelters are too full for either one and the zoo's are full. If the cat and dog could get along, my life would be pretty perfect.

In a perfect world, some one would have realized that the snake could be up to 15 feet and live for 25+ years, but they didn't. The dragon would not have escaped from his owner and ended up in a stranger's backyard. I don't have a testosterone based issue, I have a "hey mom, it followed me home can I keep it issue". I didn't actively purchase any of my animals. I adopted them one way or another. Fortunately for them, I can afford it.

These people clearly couldn't, nor the knowledge required for having good animal husbandry.

DogS laughter: FTFA: Then they took it to an undisclosed wildlife facility, where they planned to have a veterinarian examine it to determine whether it could be saved from its stab wounds.

I thought they always euthanize an animal when a human fatality happens.

Not always (new window)

ksmell: Anyone who names their daughter "Shaiunna" is immediately stricken from the "great dad" list.

/how do you even pronounce that?

I pronounce it "Jennifer."

TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

What if his job is to be a child molester? You can't have one without the other, come on lady!

thelessa:

I don't have a testosterone based issue, I have a "hey mom, it followed me home can I keep it issue".

My GF has a monthly, "awe, it is a sweet defenseless animal in need of help" issue. As previously mentioned in this thread, she wrestled a pit bull out of traffic and dropped it in my apartment. At work they tell me I shouldn't be surprised when I come home and find an aardvark in the bathroom.

elev8meL8r: ksmell: Anyone who names their daughter "Shaiunna" is immediately stricken from the "great dad" list.

/how do you even pronounce that?

I pronounce it "Jennifer."

I thought it was "hey, you".

DeathByGrace: the little girl was adorable too. If it was an ugly kid, i wouldnt care.
/you know they're out there.

I told my wife, "you'd better not have no ugly baby."

She then assured me that if it happened, it'd be my genetics at play.

Torque420: What a sad story. I cant wait for Nancy Grace to get ahold of this one.

I can't wait for Nancy Grace to get a Burmese python and take a nap.

Donor: At work they tell me I shouldn't be surprised when I come home and find an aardvark in the bathroom.

Bring him to my house and let him snack on the fire ants in the yard.

Donor: At work they tell me I shouldn't be surprised when I come home and find an aardvark in the bathroom.


Cerebus approves

asmodeus224: Silly white people

who said the dude was white? And what kind of name is "Shaiunna?"

I've lived in Gainesville, and there are plenty of black folks there.

thelessa: The horse and cat were inherited when my mother passed away

Probably a good thing. If it wasn't for your horse, you wouldn't have spent that year in college.

cowgirl toffee: elev8meL8r: ksmell: Anyone who names their daughter "Shaiunna" is immediately stricken from the "great dad" list.

/how do you even pronounce that?

I pronounce it "Jennifer."

I thought it was "hey, you".

"No, dad, I'M JesusChrist - HE'S GodDamnit..."

plewis: asmodeus224: Silly white people

who said the dude was white? And what kind of name is "Shaiunna?"

I've lived in Gainesville, and there are plenty of black folks there.

Well, the pictures did.