Python Kills Toddler
Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:55 pm
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A 12-foot pet Burmese python has broken out of its aquarium and strangled to death a two-year-old girl in her Florida bedroom.
Police said Shaunia Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at her home in Oxford, 50 miles northwest of Orlando.
The albino snake had been owned by Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of Shaunia’s mother, who found it in the toddler's bedroom, wrapped around her. Mr Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry her away, but was too late to save her.
Mr Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said tonight, although he has not yet been charged with any offence.
“It’s becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human, said Jorge Pino, a state wildlife commission spokesman.
“People purchase these animals when they’re small. When they grow, they either can’t control them or release them.
At least 12 people have been killed in the US by pet pythons since 1980.
A 12-foot pet Burmese python has broken out of its aquarium and strangled to death a two-year-old girl in her Florida bedroom.
Police said Shaunia Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at her home in Oxford, 50 miles northwest of Orlando.
The albino snake had been owned by Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of Shaunia’s mother, who found it in the toddler's bedroom, wrapped around her. Mr Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry her away, but was too late to save her.
Mr Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said tonight, although he has not yet been charged with any offence.
“It’s becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human, said Jorge Pino, a state wildlife commission spokesman.
“People purchase these animals when they’re small. When they grow, they either can’t control them or release them.
At least 12 people have been killed in the US by pet pythons since 1980.