I doubt that story is true, but even if it is, I have to say something I'm afraid people aren't going to like very much...Dogs and cats are animals, and no matter how much people love and cherish them, they are just that. Maybe some people value cats over snakes, but I don't. Now dogs might be at the same level, but only mine. I've seen so many "cute" pictures of cats and dogs holding dead snakes in their mouths. IMHO, feeding a python a puppy is no crueler then feeding a dog/cat a snake, or letting the animal kill one. Sure, snakes aren't as "intelligent," who cares? I love my snake just as much as my dog, and more then the cats I have owned in the past. If my snake, which I already owned and did not go out and buy thinking it needed these animals as food, ate nothing else, I would feed it a cat readily. Maybe not a dog, simply because most, even as puppies, are too big. A chihuahua size dog though? No more important to me than a snake. I'm really not trying to be cruel or mean here, but it all comes down to what we perceive as a "pet" animal and what we don't. People try to say that it's because dogs/cats are more intelligent, but pigs are more intelligent then both animals and many dogs/cats get fed pig-product or pork dinners. Plus, we eat them and some large snakes do as well.