A man woke up Wednesday morning and found his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter being strangled by his 12-foot pet Burmese python, according to Sumter County sheriff's officials.

The snake apparently escaped from its cage overnight and strangled the girl, who was also bitten on the forehead, Sumter County sheriff's deputies said. Charles Darnell, who owns the snake, stabbed the animal, which was wrapped around the girl's neck, and pulled the girl away before calling 911, deputies said.

"A 12-foot snake is kind of like having a truck sitting on your chest. They have enough power not only to asphyxiate you, but to break bones as well," said Harrison, who added that stabbing a python would not force the animal to release its prey.

Harrison suggested throwing alcohol down the snake's throat or running hot water over it to get it to release its prey.

Harrison urged owners to be careful with pet pythons.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/19914383/detail.html

A cautionary tale - for sure... but cautionary of what? Does this lean more towards "People shouldn't have 12 foot killer snakes as pets?" or "Stupid people shouldn't be allowed to have children?"

Both.

How sad and stupid.

Absolutely tragic. After I had kids, I was afraid, for a long time, to even have a dog.

Kathleen, I'm sure you've told us this before - but what kind of dog do you have now?

I had a Ball Python once.. their maximum length is only 5-6 feet and she was a baby, still. Then we got Martini, and he was just a wee little dude. I started having nightmares about the snake escaping and eating little puppy version of Martini. We gave the snake to our neighbor soon after.

I would like to have another snake some day. They're excellent pets and are not difficult to contain if you are careful and have a sturdy enclosure with a locking lid. This guy was an idiot, but not all snake owners are this retarded, I swears.

I don't give a shite 'cause I got my Guinness Stout!

Right now we have a small King Charles/cocker spaniel mix, or so we were told. Rocky is about twelve and a half pounds and is one awesome dog.

We used to have a Keeshond named Thumper. We adopted him at the SPCA. He was a great dog, too, until he started biting people (my sister, my MIL, my SIL, my dad).

It's only bad if you call it biting. It's less concerning if you just call it tasting. :P