Man feeds puppy to boa.. wait... what?

[jglass38]

in a way i guess
he talked about cats and dogs being raised for food

Certainly not in this country.

Once again, savages...

[darkangel]

snake are rather opportunistic, and with habitat declining they have become more so, so who's to say in some areas they don't eat a lot of dogs? i don't quite follow your reasoning.

You don't?

I never said a hungry snake would turn down a vulnerable meal in the wild. I said a snake is not going to frequently or eat dogs because this is not their typical prey.

[elevatethis]

You guys missed it. I was just bringing up the issue that different cultures place different levels of moral treatment on animals. I'm not making any distinction between right and wrong, I am just saying its an "issue" that everyone should think about.

The food chain is not a pretty thing. Humans, while we can be killed other predators, are top predator in the world. Humans do horrible things to the animals we eat. Lions do horrible things to the food they eat. The difference is that humans seem to have a choice in how we treat animals, whereas other predators don't. I feel like having been given the gift of reason and emotion, we should be doing a lot better as a whole in how we treat animals, whether it be for food, companionship, whatever.

[CeraDigital]

You don't?

I never said a hungry snake would turn down a vulnerable meal in the wild. I said a snake is not going to frequently or eat dogs because this is not their typical prey.

Not to jump on the other side of this, but how do you know if dogs aren't their typical meal? They come across a variety of both mammals and reptiles they feed on in the wild, even the Green Iguana, in the case of some Boa constrictor subspecies and localities. They could eat a variety of different species...and not just one. Most Boid species are opportunistic.

[qiksilver]

You don't?

I never said a hungry snake would turn down a vulnerable meal in the wild. I said a snake is not going to frequently or eat dogs because this is not their typical prey.

not really, because to be quite honest, a 'proper' meal in captivity is what we make it, now don't get me wrong, i would die before i let someone feed a puppy to a snake, but a proper meal is based on the general consensus of keepers and what has worked in the past.
the part i don't get is, im not sure if you really just said that if as a society we felt that feeding puppies was normal that that would be something we would accept, whether we like it or not. most snakes dont' even eat rats and mice in the wild, so again, that's a construct of captivity. so no, i don't follow, because either way that animal will not get it's normal, natural diet.

[darkangel]

I guess I make that assumption because I've never heard of/read about boas eating dogs in the wild. But I don't know. I guess unless a bunch of wild boas decided to regurge their meals for everyone to see, there's not a great way to find out.

Can we all agree the guy is a piece of crap?

And qik, I guess I am applying this to our society's construct. In the country I live AND this guy lives, we value and respect companion animals and that's the reason I feel towards this issue as I do.

[elevatethis]

The logic gets all screwed up when you start making comparisons between captivity and the wild. They are two totally different things and should be treated as such, especially for this discussion. Besides, I can almost guarantee that boas do not come across domesticated dogs out in the jungles of central and south america.

[Gooseman]

Can we all agree the guy is a piece of crap?

I believe that is a given. It's mostly an argument about whether or not it's any more a case of animal cruelty than any other feeding.

[MeMe]

Not to jump on the other side of this, but how do you know if dogs aren't their typical meal? They come across a variety of both mammals and reptiles they feed on in the wild, even the Green Iguana, in the case of some Boa constrictor subspecies and localities

I think this is going off track.

First of all we aren't talking about an animal in the wild and nobody here has disputed that they think it is cruel "in the wild" however....In these here United States they don't "normally" eat wild dogs.

And furthermore...this was not a wild dog that even had a chance in hell of getting away from the snake it was a helpless puppy that had a stupid owner!

just sayin'

[qiksilver]

Most giant Pythons will take down and eat dogs and cats in their native area. Have you seen the post about the Reticulated Python feeding on the Guard Dogs? African Rock Pythons have been known to feed on domesticated animals such as dogs as well....They don't know when they will find food next, so there's little chance at all they're going to pass up a dog or cat that they come across..

I'm not too sure on if the Burmese Python, Indian Python, or Amethystine Python has been known to. However just because they have been known to feed on dogs or cats in the wild, doesn't mean they should be fed these animals in captivity....by far!. Simple fact is they shouldn't! If someone needs to feed a dog/cat to their Boid or other Reptile...they shouldn't be owning these animals....

hey woah wait! i wasn't saying toss them a puppy whenever they're hungry. i was just saying who are we to think we know what an animal in the wild, with human encroachment and all sorts of new naive prey considers 'natural'.