Just to follow up on what Judy posted, Fiona I think you may have misunderstood a bit. While a lot of us feel that snakes just simply do not have the kind of brains that are capable of emotional responses that humans call "love" or "hate" it surely does not mean we don't feel an emotional bond with the snakes. Nor does it mean they can't feel pain, discomfort, a fear response, that sort of thing. Those things are generally dealt with at a more basic brain function, in fact humans have a reptilian brain deep inside our mammalian brain that deals with our own very basic instincts and reactions (flight or fight, that sort of thing).

I think if anything most of us worry more about our snakes because they cannot communicate to us, in a way we completely understand, that they are in need of something. Unlike a dog that can whine to get attention our snakes are fairly silent and very subtle, so most of us here if anything are hyper-aware of even the slightest change that may indicate a problem brewing.

Of course there are people that treat snakes extremely poorly but then they exist everywhere....we unfortunately are not immune to this.