Escaped pet python strangles 2-year-old girl * o Text Size o [Archive]

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nick

July 1st, 2009, 07:01 PM

A 2-year-old girl was strangled to death by an escaped 12-foot Burmese python on Wednesday inside a central Florida home, authorities said.

Full story here (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5714896/Escaped-pet-python-strangles-2-year-old-girl.html)

Whatever would possess anyone to have a python in a house with a baby?

Whisper

July 1st, 2009, 08:26 PM

they should go to jail, period.

"Some owners have freed pythons into the wild and a population of the snakes has taken hold in the Everglades. One killed an alligator and then exploded when it tried to eat it."

lawl

Kaleidoscope Eyes

July 1st, 2009, 11:17 PM

Whatever would possess anyone to have a python in a house with a baby?

Keeping a python can be dangerous with a small child in the same home, but I don't think having it in the house was the problem. After-all, it was in an aquarium AND in a different room. The problem was that the cage apparently wasn't secure enough to hold it; perhaps it hadn't been closed entirely, it happens sometimes. Pythons aren't impossible to keep in a container--it seems like it was an honest accident that it could even get out in the first place. No one wants their snake getting loose and, even if it's not commonplace for children to be strangled by the family pet, people do think about keeping their kids safe. I think it's a bit much to just automatically blame the parents because they had the pet. It's not that hard to keep a snake and a child safely in the same house, this was likely just one of those freak occurrences.

Dreaming Cannibal

July 1st, 2009, 11:39 PM

Keeping a python can be dangerous with a small child in the same home, but I don't think having it in the house was the problem…

I agree with you, it's not really the parent's fault. People like snakes and if they want to own one while they have a babe its their prerogative, they just need to learn how to control the snake in a safe environment.

Whisper

July 2nd, 2009, 12:33 AM

Incompetence can still be a crime
They failed to ensure the defense of their child, the most basic role of a parent

INFERNO

July 2nd, 2009, 03:29 AM

It sounds like it was a simple accident as the python was secured away but managed to get itself loose. The parents should be charged because although it probably was an accident and although the python normally was secured away, something happened to compromise the safety and health of their kid. That something is their possession and so they should be at fault. I wouldn't go as far as to toss them in jail/prison for a long time, probably under a year or so max. or a fine.

Kaleidoscope Eyes

July 2nd, 2009, 05:14 PM

IThe parents should be charged because although it probably was an accident and although the python normally was secured away, something happened to compromise the safety and health of their kid.

What about dogs who bite the neighbor kid? Let's lock those parents up too, because they're a danger to the community. The cat scratched the kid and it got infected! Oh my gawd, negligence!!! Accidents happen. This was one of those. The parents probably feel guilty enough already, and I still don't think they did anything wrong by having a pet.

Is it possible that there's no one to blame here, or does every death have to be someone's fault? There are cases where the parents could be found guilty of manslaughter or some other criminal charge but, based on the info in the article, I think it would be ridiculous to punish this couple. Its like saying that if they didn't double-check the front door and it somehow got left unlocked, that they would be responsible should their house get robbed while they were out. Even the accidentally less-than-secure cage is an assumption, people, I only mentioned it to show that the parents aren't total idiots. The article just said that the python escaped, it didn't say that anyone was responsible for letting it do so.

ShatteredWings

July 2nd, 2009, 05:48 PM

Gotta agree with kodie...
What person would ever have a constrictor in the same house with a baby, which is about the size of it's prey in the wild?
Like seroiuslly. You're asking for your snake to kill your kid.

Kaleidoscope Eyes

July 2nd, 2009, 06:11 PM

It's true that snakes can't be trained the way dogs can, but a pet is not the same as a wild animal. They're bred and raised in captivity, and their parents were the same way. If it were not safe to keep them as a pet, it would not be legal.

Losing the child is hard enough, I can't imagine how hard it must be for this couple facing the public. You guys are so quick to blame and I'm sure everyone else is too. Until I hear word that it was definitely their fault and they were idiotic and negligent and careless, I'm not going to put them down.

ShatteredWings

July 2nd, 2009, 06:50 PM

A reptile doesn't have the same thought capacity as most other animals do. If you can't TRAIN it and it has the capability to do this, it should not be a pet with a small child in the house..

There are lots of animals that in my right mind i wouldn't want in the same house with a child. Anything with scales, pitbull, certainty breads of viscous lapdogs (say.. teacup poodles, for example), ferrets.. i'm sure there's more this is just off the top of my head.
All of 'em are legal in most states (some places have laws about the reptilian things..and some places can't have rodents, but same point)

Do all animals have the capability to be vicious? Yeah, they do. Can you train the animals that are kept as house pets? Again, yes. Even the lilbitch dogs that i wouldn't keep with a small child can be trained, and not all of them are horrid.

You can't train a snake... you can't make it know not to try to EAT your kid. "Reptile brain" is a reference to basic body functions (mainly, homeostasis). That's about all these critters got.

YourFriend

July 4th, 2009, 12:45 PM