Another bad media adventure to support HR 669

[CTReptileRescue]

This is from Herpdigest Volume #9 Issue #17

Parents Of 3-Year-Old Attacked By 18-Foot Python Plead
By Mary Manning, Las Vegas Sun
Tue, Apr 7, 2009

The mother and father of a 3-year-old boy who was attacked by an 18-foot python snake took a plea on Tuesday.

Originally charged with child abuse and neglect, Melissa and Anthony Melendrez went to court and made an Alford plea, meaning they did not admit guilt.

They faced two felonies with sentences up to 20 years in prison for the charges filed by the District Attorney's Office after Metro Police investigated the case.

Their plea drops the charge to a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.

The couple say they were taking care of the exotic snake when on Jan. 21 the reticulated python escaped a cage in a bedroom and wrapped itself around the boy.

It took six Metro Police officers, an animal control officer and the mother to pry the tot from the snake's grip. Melissa Melendrez attacked the python with a steak knife, gashing the snake so that it had to be euthanized at the Lied Animal Shelter.

** I apologize to copy paste this from herp digest, I know the operator of said digest doesn't mind. I hope the mods here don't mind either.
Rusty

[frankykeno]

I see no problem with you posting it from there Rusty. You gave credit to the source and it's a relevent topic for this forum.

How sad that this sort of thing gets attention but the responsible, careful owners of large snakes never get in the press do they. Nobody wants to read "family owns large snakes and hey their kids have never been hurt by them!".

I know a lot of people think Mike and I are overly cautious with Tequila, our 9 foot boa but this sort of thing is the reason why. Tequila is strong enough to seriously hurt our 7 year old. For his sake, for our family's sake and also for Tequila's sake we planned really carefully before we ever got her to avoid this happening (you cannot ever plan for everything but we've tried hard). We don't want our decision to house a 9 foot snake to impact on others rights to own snakes so yes, we're very careful of what we do with her.

Tequila lives in a custom enclosure that is always padlocked. The walls of her enclosure and the door are solid and thick wood, not flimsy stuff. Only Mike and I hold the keys for her door and those keys are never left at home when we aren't home. Since we have teenagers and teenagers sometimes forget rules, we won't chance one of them taking Tequila out when we aren't around. Our house policy is also that both Mike and I must be home and in the room if Tequila's home is unlocked for any reason even just a quick addition to her water bowl.

This might all seem a bit much for a 9 foot snake but I figure better too much then not enough.

[RhacHead]

How sad that this sort of thing gets attention but the responsible, careful owners of large snakes never get in the press do they. Nobody wants to read "family owns large snakes and hey their kids have never been hurt by them!".

I know exactly what you mean,Its that kind of media sensationalization that makes keeping my American Pitbull Terriers nearly impossible!

[Kysenia]

Thanks for posting the article. As Freaky said there will always be risks with pet ownership. Notice i said pet ownership. Although reptiles will never be given the same consideration as societies accepted pet animal list...cats/dogs I can give you a list of experiences with dogs that would offset that story. Since living where I do know my 6 year son and wife have been pinned up against our garage 3 times with one of our neighbor down the streets 3 pitbulls. He was at their heels in attack position growling and barking. My son sat on our lab/short hair mix once and got a startle nip above the eye. I have 10 stitches from my split lip from a dog at age of 6.
I could go on and on but I doubt society will ever be able to put perspective on the fact that we accept dog attacks and people deaths annually as a norm but reptile issues are unacceptable.

Please notice I did not say pitpul breeds should be banned forever etc...the issue as I see it lies with the owner a majority of the time, not the animal, along with me getting bit being my stupidity lol.

[rainglow]

The media is basically just watered-down gossip. They only tell one side of the story, the side that's going to get them the most readers and views. In this case, its how someone was attacked by a 'fierce and dangerous snake' and responsible owners of these large snakes know that this attack could have been prevented easily.

[grim reaper in NY]

OK, this is an unfortunate ISOLATED incident. However, how many children AND adults are attakced everyday across this country by dogs? How many suffer injuries from cats? Again, the ratio of snake "attacks" to dog maulings and attacks is not even in the same ballpark. Of course none of this will be taken into consideration either.