Captured python released in forest

THE 3m-long python which terrified a family in their Tampines flat is now back in the wild where it belongs.

The New Paper, 8 Jul

After being caught on Monday, the reptile spent the night in an enclosed empty fish tank in the corridor outside the flat.

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) officers yesterday offered to take the snake to the zoo.

But Miss Charmaine Tan, 24, a part-time sales assistant, and her brother chose to release it into the wild instead.

At about 3pm, her boyfriend dropped by to pick up the tank and drove to a forested area in Mandai to release the snake.

Said Miss Tan: 'My brother and I feel responsible for the python, and since it's a wild animal, we thought that it shouldn't be held captive.'

The New Paper reported yesterday that the python had made its way into the Tans' 12th-floor flat in Tampines.

The family called a pest control company, but they ended up catching the python themselves after they couldn't agree on a price.

Miss Tan and her father, Christopher, 52, a housing agent, then put it into a pillowcase and secured it by tying a knot.

They placed the pillowcase into a 50cm-long fish tank that Miss Tan's boyfriend had brought.

Very strong

The family placed a metal sheet on top of the tank and weighed it down with bricks so the snake, which Mr Tan described as strong, could not escape.

Mr Tan covered the glass portion of the tank so that their neighbours would not be alarmed.

'We knew that the snake couldn't escape since it was tied up inside the pillow case and was in the glass tank,' said Miss Tan.

When her brother, full-time national serviceman Mark Tan, 20, returned home at about 7pm on Monday night, he called the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) to pick up the snake.

But he was told that Acres could not keep the snake.

'Instead, they told us to release it into a heavily forested area,' said Miss Tan.

She said that she knew of only two forests - in Mandai and MacRitchie. Since the Mandai forest is more isolated, Miss Tan and her brother decided to release the snake there.

An AVA spokesman said that it was not illegal to release the snake into the jungle.

I'd do it myself

SHE was doing her ironing in the living room of her HDB flat when she heard a loud thud.

LOOK WHAT THEY FOUND! Mr Christopher Tan, 52, tries to force the 3m snake out of its hiding place at the top of the shelf. Mr Tan puts the snake in a pillowcase held by his daughter Charmaine Tan, 24. TNP PICTURES: KELVIN CHNG

Thinking that something had fallen, Mrs Allysia Tan checked the flat, but did not find anything amiss.

Five minutes later, she heard another, softer, thud.

This time, when she went into the master bedroom, she was horrified to see a snake about 3m long, slithering on the floor.

Frightened by the snake, which she described as grey with green spots and huge fangs, she ran out of the room.

The incident happened at about 12.20pm on Monday when Mrs Tan and her daughter, Chrissia, 6, were in their four-room flat at Block 409, Tampines Street 41.

Their unit is on the 12th storey, the highest in the block.

Mrs Tan, 40, said she called the police and was told by an officer that he would call her back.

She said that when she called the Tampines Town Council, she was told that it could not help as the snake was not in a public area.

Mrs Tan then called her housing agent husband, Mr Christopher Tan, 52, and SMSed her eldest daughter, Miss Charmaine Tan, 24.

Mr Tan told The New Paper: 'I thought my wife was exaggerating about the size of the snake. I didn't expect that such a huge snake can be found in a HDB flat.'

Mrs Tan figured that the snake probably made its way into the house through the master bedroom window.

'The first sound I heard could be from it falling onto the aircon compressor, and the second sound from it falling on the room's floor,' she said.

She said the police officer called her back at about 12.45pm and gave her the number of a pest control company, PestBusters.

By this time, Mr Tan had rushed home from his office in Toa Payoh.

When Mrs Tan called PestBusters, she said she was quoted $120 for the snake to be removed. She agreed to the price.

Mr Tan found the snake in the wardrobe of the master bedroom.

'I moved a plastic box inside and saw the snake,' he said.

'I jumped back in shock. It was coiled up around the metal poles of the shelves.'

Pest controllers

While waiting for the pest controllers, Mr Tan tried to catch the snake using a bamboo pole with the help of The New Paper photojournalist Kelvin Chng, who arrived at the scene at 1.45pm.

But the snake tried to attack them, and they gave up.

At 2.30pm, Miss Tan, a part-time sales assistant, arrived home after work.

She said that based on her knowledge of reptiles, the snake looked like a reticulated python. Native to South-east Asia, it's the world's longest snake and can grow up to 9m.

Miss Tan showed us a book on reptiles and also called her younger brother, Mark, a 20-year-old NSF, who was in camp.

Based on her description, he agreed that it was most probably a reticulated python.

He told Miss Tan that they should use gloves to grab the snake and put it into a pillow case.

At 2.45pm, two pest controllers arrived.

After seeing the snake, they told the Tans they would have to charge them $550 as the snake was longer than they expected. (See report above, right).

Mr Tan said: '$550? I might as well do it myself.'

Then, he grabbed the snake's head, while Miss Tan caught hold of the tail.

They put the snake inside a pillow case, tied and put the case into a empty fish tank, which they covered with a metal sheet, with bricks on top.

Miss Tan's boyfriend then carried the tank and placed it outside their flat.

Miss Tan said she contacted wildlife charity Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) on Monday night to pick up the snake.

When The New Paper checked with her last night, she said the snake was still outside their unit.

The Tans threw out the shelves in their wardrobe as the snake had urinated on them.

Miss Tan joked: 'Maybe the snake was scared too.'

So hot, police dogs left in car die

TWO police dogs have died after being left inside a vehicle parked outside Nottinghamshire police headquarters on one of the hottest days of the year.

It is believed the dogs' handler was not on duty at the time and had called in to the force's headquarters at Sherwood Lodge, leaving the dogs to over-heat in the parked car, reported Reuters.

It is not known how long they were left in the car but temperatures in Nottingham on Wednesday hit 29.4 deg C.

According to UK's Met Office website, the mean summer temperature from 1971 to 2000 is 14.1 deg C, the same as 2007.

The force said the German shepherds were discovered at Sherwood Lodge headquarters in Arnold on Tuesday.

According to the Press Association, the dogs were donated to carry out police work, including tracking down criminals and providing security at major events in the county.

The case has also been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

'This is a tragic incident and we value the important work our police dogs carry out on a daily basis,' said Assistant Chief Constable Peter Davies.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was now investigating the incident.

The Dogs Trust, UK's largest dog welfare charity, said it was 'saddened' by the news.

A spokesman said: 'While the cause of death is still to be determined, the charity would like to remind dog owners and police dog handlers that leaving your dog locked in a car can prove fatal, particularly during a heatwave.'

The spokesman added that it can take just 20minutes for a dog to die and temperatures reach over 40 deg C in some vehicles.

A vet is carrying out post-mortems to establish how the animals died.

Dehydration is likely to have been a significant factor.

The Times Online reported that temperatures are set to soar even though the past month had already been the hottest, driest and sunniest month since July 2006, according to records.

The maximum sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is six months in prison and a £20,000 ($48,000) fine.

Nottinghamshire Police said the handler has not been suspended.

Pet snake strangles toddler to death

A 2.5M-LONG pet Burmese python broke out of its enclosure and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom at a central Florida home on Wednesday.

DANGEROUS PET: US authorities remove a Burmese python from the home where it killed a 2-year-old girl. PICTURES: AP

Shaiunna Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at about 10 am, police Lieutenant Bobby Caruthers told Associated Press.

Mr Charles Jason Darnell, the snake's owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna's mother, discovered the snake missing from its enclosure.

He went to the girl's room where he found the snake beside the girl, who had bite marks on her head, said Lt Caruthers.

Not knowing what else to do, Mr Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.

An emergency call recorded a sobbing caller saying: 'The baby's dead!

'Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby.'

Mr Charles Darnell hugs girlfriend Jaren Hare, the child's mum.

Authorities did not identify the caller and removed the person's name from the recording.

'She got out of the cage last night and got into the baby's crib and strangled her to death,' the caller said.

Authorities removed the snake from the home that same afternoon after obtaining a search warrant.

The snake, which was still alive, was placed in a bag and then inside a dog crate.

Mr Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, which makes it a second-degree misdemeanour, said Ms Joy Hill, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

He has not been charged, but investigators were looking into whether there was child neglect or if any other laws were broken.

Ms Hill said the snake will be placed with someone who has a permit, pending an investigation into the girl's death.

The Humane Society Of The United States said at least 12 people have been killed in the US, including this death, by pet pythons since 1980. Of that, five were children.

Snakes and deaths

Burmese pythons are not native to Florida but they easily survive in the state and can reach a length of 8m and weigh more than 90kg.

Other than some owners freeing pythons into the wild, scientists also speculate that a number of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.

'People purchase these animals when they're small. When they grow, they either can't control them or release them.'

Mr George Van Horn, owner of Reptile World Serpentarium, said the strangulation could have occurred because the snake felt threatened or because it thought the child was food.

'They are always operating on instinct,' he said.

'Even the largest person can be overpowered by a python.'

Earlier this year, in February, another wild animal kept as a pet was involved in attack, and it too had to be killed.

Ms Sandra Herold's 90kg pet chimpanzee, who once starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, was shot dead by police after a violent rampage that left her friend badly mauled.

Victim Charla Nash suffered traumatic facial injury, including the loss of her nose, upper and lower lips, eyelids and the bony structures in her mid-face, and has filed a US$50m ($70m) lawsuit against Ms Herold.

OK to carry pup into MRT train?

STOMPer Jacky Chen found it ridiculous that a couple brought a dog into the MRT by putting it inside a large carton box.

In an email to STOMP today (June 22), the STOMPer says:

“A couple brought a dog up the MRT by putting it inside a large carton box.

“Really ridiculous! The dog is however very cute.”

STOMP is contacting SMRT for comments.

Four pedigree dogs abandoned in park

ARE irresponsible dog breeders abandoning pedigree dogs?

That's what some animal welfare volunteers are alleging, but one dog breeder The New Paper on Sunday spoke to disputed this.

Three weeks ago, four pedigree dogs were found at a carpark in Pasir Ris Park.

This prompted some, like Miss Elektra Xu, 24, to write to the Straits Times' Forum page.

Miss Xu, an aircraft engineer who has been volunteering with an animal shelter in Pasir Ris Farmway 2 for the past year, said in her letter that irresponsible dog breeders could possibly be behind such cases.

When contacted by The New Paper on Sunday, MissXu said that every few months, she and other volunteers have found abandoned dogs wandering around the area.

Said Miss Xu: 'Some of these dogs were abandoned by their previous owners. But many of the abandoned dogs were thrown out of pet farms once they are of no more use to the breeders.

'We knew that they were from pet farms because we noticed that their nipples were very swollen - they must have been mums to many puppies. They were pedigree breeds such as golden retrievers and labradors, which are commonly used for breeding.'

Miss Deirdre Moss, executive officer of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), said it has not received any complaints about breeders abandoning dogs.

She said: 'We do not know where the dogs originated from. However, it is unusual that four pedigree dogs were found together in such a neglected state - on the skinny side with chronic skin problems.'

These are common conditions breeding dogs suffer from, said Mr Ricky Yeo, president of Action for Singapore Dogs, a non-profit animal welfare organisation.

He said: 'Normally, the dogs abandoned by puppy mills are pedigree, they are old, and have skin problems.

'They also develop muscle atrophy in some cases, because they are kept in such small cages that they do not have the chance to walk and use their muscles.'

Mr Yeo, who has been tracking dog abandonment since 2000, said it has been going on for some time.

Breeders not to blame

However, a dog breeder The New Paper on Sunday spoke to denied that breeders were to blame for the abandonment of pedigree dogs.

Mr Johnson Cheng, general manager of Ericsson Pet Farm, which sells puppies and runs a pet boarding facility at Pasir Ris Farmway 2, said it was 'rare' for pets to be abandoned in the area.

According to him, there are no such cases in some years, and when there have been any, no more than two dogs have been abandoned.

He said: 'I find them running around at the grass patch, so I'll take them and keep them in the pet boarding area, rather than call SPCA, where the dogs will be put down.'

He believes that the culprits who are abandoning the dogs are dog owners, and not breeders.

Mr Cheng said: 'The dogs I've found so far are adult dogs, and they are usually running around with their harness and collar.'

Mr Cheng added that they also respond when he tries calling them, so they must have been kept by someone before.

While he has not heard of any farms abandoning dogs, he felt that it would also be difficult to point the finger at the farms even if they were doing so.

Mr Cheng said: 'If breeding farms want to dispose of their dogs, they will do so discreetly, so no one will ever know if they have abandoned the dogs.

'The dogs can be traced back to the farm if they are microchipped, but not all the dogs are microchipped. Some breeders get away with not microchipping their dogs, because it is hard to track the dogs.

'It's not as if the authorities can track all the dogs with a GPS.'

No evidence

Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) spokesman Goh Shih Yong said that AVA impounds mainly stray dogs, and that there have been no cases of abandoned dogs.

He said that no dog farm has been prosecuted for abandonment as AVA has no evidence of them abandoning dogs.

Pet abandonment is an act of animal cruelty. Any person who is convicted of this offence can be fined up to $10,000 and jailed up to 12 months.

All's Well For Puppy Accidentally Flushed Down Toilet

Cool Cat

This cat has found a great spot to chill out in the warm weather - atop an ice-cream refrigerator outside a provision shop along Race Course Road.
(Provided from The NewPaper)