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Home→Animal Rights→Warning! Kitties fed live to snakes!

Warning! Kitties fed live to snakes!

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by Grahame

Whilst reading about Cat Wilbur, I chanced upon this horrible bit:

>The following is an e-mail I received from an animal rescuer friend who was contacted by a fellow animal rescuer about the use of Craig’s List to procure kittens for the purpose of being fed alive to snakes. Please forward this and share on social network groups to alert everyone you know to the horrific reality of using sites like Craig’s List to “adopt” or “sell” animals. Thank you. Beth

“Krisie,

Can you send out an alert about people getting free kittens to feed their snakes on Craig’s List. Brittany’s friend was looking for a cat on Craig’s list and came upon a suspicious ad for extra kittens. When she called, the man said he used free kittens he gets on Craig’s List to feed his snakes as live bait. Her friend met the guy at a parking lot and got the three kittens which were from three different litters. He said he had just fed his snakes and had these kittens were left over. Brittany has one of the three which the two older kittens were hissing at. She already has found a permanent home for the kitten but is keeping the kitten for a few days until the couple gets back from a trip.

People who advertise their kittens on Craig’s List should be made aware that this is happening and is done by a lot of people who have snakes. Their reasoning is that they cannot get free live rats anywhere so why not kittens. The kittens have a much better chance to find homes by turning them into the county as other rescues get their kittens from the county for adoption. Often there are no kittens available when FAR goes there once a week so most of the healthy ones must be getting taken by the rescues. It certainly is a better fate than being eaten alive by a snake.

Brittany called the animal control to report it but they said they need an address to do anything. Brittany’s friend only had a phone number, probably a cell phone. It is animal cruelty and can be prosecuted.

I am sickened and horrified by this.

Love, Juanita”<

Hi… thanks for this Grahame. I did a bit of follow up work on this.

Yes, it is quite common in the USA (or at least it is not uncommon I sense). It probably happens in Europe as well. It is just that what I see indicates that it happens in the USA and there is a more laissez faire attitude in the USA to this sort of thing. It must be animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the UK so a prosecution would follow if the person was caught.

That is the problem – catching people. This is because kittens advertised as “free to a good home” will attract the macho male who keeps a large snake(s). He will phone and convince the person he is a suitable candidate to care for the kitten and then feed it live to his snake. He’ll watch at the same time, no doubt.

It is not just through Graigslist that this happens although Graigslist is a very large free online advertising portal and so is used a lot. But it happens in all sorts of places where kittens are available. Maybe through pet stores for example.

Live mice, rats, rabbits and puppies are also fed to snakes. These can be purchased for the purpose I suspect altough can be bought pre-killed and frozen. It is just that puppies and kittens are oftenfree online because irresponsible cat owners allow their cats to breed. So the “free to a good home” advert is very bad.

We don’t know how big this problem is. It is probably a lot bigger than we imagine. It is a hidden problem. How do we know if a person has fed a kitten to a snake in the privacy of his home? It is very hard to track. And I am sure the police in general don’t want to be involved.

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Warning! Kitties fed live to snakes!

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Nov 23, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar		 to Anonymous
by: Michael

There is a big difference in a snake, a wild animal, eating a kitting kitten (an animal designed to be a domestic cat companion) and a human eating a killed (per regulations) cow which is livestock reared to feed people.

I guess you just don’t get that.

Nov 23, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar		 warning anomymous!!!
by: cat lady

………and why wouldn’t this latest “anonymous” post be a jerk and a$$hole??? He sure left proof of that on other web-sites from Michael. What is wrong with these heartless cruel, sociopaths that are part of our sick society. Were they raised by cowardly, cruel, harsh, mean parents? Were they bullied and picked on relentlessly by other’s that they have taken on the identity of their abusers (Stockholm Syndrome), that they think nothing of innocent creatures being treated with cruelty??? Is their life that meaningless and without purpose that they have become monster-like beings that lack a concience and a heart in this world. Cold, cruel , harsh and without empathy. Too bad for them, someday they will face their Creator and have to account for every life form they have wreaked their havoc and destruction on!! I certainly do want to share any kind of space with them on this planet or in the hereafter. Which may not be far away for us all , the way this world seems to be going?? They would be better off living in China where this kind of horror goes on daily!!Doesn’t seem like human life is respected much there either?? They should move there! pronto!!

Nov 23, 2011
Rating
star		 Snakes gotta eat too!
by: Anonymous

Hey the poor snakes gotta eat too you know! And why is any of this different from people eating cows, or chickens. etc.? Because YOU love kats? Believe it or not some people actually love snakes, cows, even chickens! It all seems to be a matter of your personal perspective!

Nov 23, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar		 a memory to make one vomit even years later
by: Grahame

Hi Michael:
I once saw a person feed a rat to his “pet” boa constrictor. The white rat was thrown into the snake’s enclosure. The rat immediately sought a corner as far from the snake as possible. The snake, meanwhile, sat coiled and quiet. After what seemed an eternity, but was only maybe 15 seconds, the snake suddenly struck, wrappinig its tensed coils about the hapless rat. The rat’s eyes bulged nearly out of its head, and the snake began ingesting it.

This horrible sight has remained with me for decades. I feel for the rat! Imagine this happening to a kitty!

Comments

Warning! Kitties fed live to snakes! — 28 Comments

  1. @ dee:
    same to every other species we keep in cages!
    not sure i get you right cause its not my native language, but i have understand you say wildlife is affected by cats and so its not a problem to let domestic(!) cats roam and destroy native wildlife? do you ever have read any official study about the massive harm domestic cats do to wildlife? in the us only domstic cats already have caused the extingtion of 33 species of birds, in 2020 it will be 70 species! and now you still will say its no problem for wildlife? sorry but this is just sad unresposible and selfish there isnt any excuse for! nature is for all of us and no one ever have the right to say my pet need to roam to feel all good wile it will have such a massive effect in a bad way to the native wildlife!

    wanted to answer to the last comment but there wasnt an option for. 😉

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    • Humans are the foremost danger to wildlife and their habitats, not cats or any other creature.
      Your statistics are wrong.
      If we don’t start keeping a balance in the environment, we are doomed. Cats of all makes need to roam, snakes need to slither, bears need to be bears, monkeys need to be monkeys…
      No animal should be encased in a glass house, especially not a snake. It’s cruel.

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      • Humans are the foremost danger to wildlife and their habitats,

        No human has worked out how much more destructive to wildlife people are compared to cats but it must be a 100x more destructive or worse.

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    • Claudia, please don’t believe studies about the impact of domestic and feral cats on wildlife. The “experts” are guessing because they can’t measure it properly. There is a lot of bad information on the internet. Humans are hundreds of times more destructive.

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      • Totally agree it is us humans who are responsible for the extinction of numerous wild creatures and plants.

        Next time I hear someone blaming domestic cats, I’m going to ask them to explain exactly how they’ve had any impact on tigers, snow leopards, whales, gorillas, rhinos etc. 😉

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      • yes of course the nubers will vary but at least we need to accept domestics will have a bad influence in native wildlife the reason is simple its because they are domestic and not native! same with the pythons in florida glades its a place they are wrong. when the nature would need them then there already would be some before.
        and of course you are right about the human is the very most destructive and invasive species ever but we were speak about pets.

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        • I’m always curious when people say an animal isn’t native to that region/country and shouldn’t be there. That statement equally applies to the white man in many regions of the world.

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          • burmese pythons arent native to florida they came from the asian continet thats fact also every domestic animal isnt native everywhere cause they are domestic and not natural anywhere. its quite simple.

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            • oh and yes the human also isnt native in the glades and many many other areas of the world thats why humans are the very most invasive species ever! 😉

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  2. no problem, i was thought about that. 😉
    sadly i must say cant find the rest again. 🙁 was to long ago to remember proper for exact terms. but all the cases i tell you about were real cases that included pictures or were officials involved, all other i ever hear about were just trolling because there never ever was anykind of evidence its the truth, no picture, no official report and also no witness. and now when you know there are millions of people that keep snake worldwide and also keep in mind the fact that especially the twisted people will be the ones that love to profile their self than you can be pretty sure about there would be much more about if this ever would be some more comon. what are 10 cases in over 10 years in relation to millions of snake owners? right its nothing, you allmost could say its not existent!

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  3. i am from europe, must search for the links cause most is years old cant promise i will find all of them again.
    the latest is luka magnotta from 2011, you easily find a lot about him by the use of google on youtube there are still copies of his clip called christmas python or python christmas. but as i was say he is a very sick man and his doing has absolutely nothing to do with the hobby of keeping reptiles! please do not use this twisted stuff to give regular herpers a more bad stand as it already is, it wouldnt be fair cause its just one sick person out of millions and never really had everything to do with herping!

    this is the link to the man with the 70 snakes

    http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/04/david_beauchemin_accused_of_fe.php

    the deathrow puppies

    http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=136748

    the rest is lost at the moment for the two giants of indonesia search for prony-bohol and for the other there was a documentary called “four story python” or something similar, in that docu there is a few secons part that shows a dog inside the enclosure and you see the snake move for it.

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  4. forgotten to say in over 10 years i only found 9 proven cases someone have used cats or dogs to feed his snake!
    12 when i count the two giant ones on public display of local zoos from indonesa that were fed by dogs regulary also. one was the very well known luka magnotta, a sick person that heve done it just for the reason to shock the public. he also have killed three other cats, one he drowned taped on a stick in a bucked the other two he vacumized in a plastic bag. after that he also killed a person and was hunt down and got jailed. but he wasnt a regular herper he got that snake only for that single cat!
    next was a man out in the wild somewhere in south america, as i remember, that was keeping his snake in an outside enclosure. wanderes caming across and was taking a picture that shows a dog inside the encosure. an italian guy that fed a stray cat to his snake and filmed it. an us pet sore owner that fed a kitten in front of two customers. a guy from the us that oiled and fed a puppy in front of two young boys. another guy that fed two stillborn puppies and a roadkill cat. one that tried to feed a kitten in his yard but the snake refused it and so he was kicked the kitten across the yard. a guy from indonesia that fed a cat to a snake in an outside enclosure. a female us shelter employement that feed some deathrow puppies. and to the last the most sicken case of a man lived in a caravan and was keeping about 70 snakes in a steel container. he was running a “rescue” and fed the animals people have given to him.
    all other cases i know cats or dogs involved were accidents of some reason. you can be sure about if it would be somewhat more common you would find a lot more about it but there isnt any more only a lot of troll postings across the internet but no more!

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    • of course you are right when you say there is to much negligent petownership! but there is still no reason to draw a panic about free kittens will end as snake food. we can be sure it will happen but its not a common thing for sure.

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      • Wow!
        Please give some links to websites for validation.
        I ask because I had a man show up at my house 2 years ago wanting kittens (had none ofcourse). Very odd but, after a discussion, he confessed that he wanted to feed his snake.
        I’m not unfamiliar with snakes as my son keeps one.
        I try to be objective; but, what kind of quality of life does a snake have in a glass enclosure?

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        • I agree with you Dee. My gut tells me feeding live to snakes is more common than Claudia believes and also that people have probably underrated the snake’s intelligence and needs. Humans have always done this with animals. For all we know a snake might become stressed living in a small glass cage.

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          • then you dont know that much about snakes, for most pythons its very uncomfortable to live in large enclosures they do prefer small ones. in a large tank they got stressed because of fear for possible predators. also they really need a place to hide wilst rest and sleep, these hides are also prefered to be quite small for their size. but in general of course we could ask about the feel for comfort for almost every species we keep as pets. do you believe a rabbit is feel comfortable in any cage and in most cases also alone? be sure they dont! for and almost correct keeping you would need to use your full garden (if its big enough) and at least a group of 4-5 rabbits. same with guinea pigs and ferrets. when you start to talk about is there a possibility to keep animals in a really comfortable way for them as pets the only answer is no, and this counts for every species! have heared goldfish will have such a low mind and short time remembering they will forgett about all before they swim a complete round in their bowls. if this is true then you can say a goldfish will feel comfortable as a pet in a tank but for every other animal i can think about i can clearly say there isnt any way to keep them absolutely proper as a pet. the keeping of animals as pets is always a compromise!

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            • Hi, Claudia.
              You are aware, ofcourse, that this site is about cats and what is most beneficial for them.
              Feeding to snakes doesn’t seem beneficial to me at all.
              That is the topic…
              not ferrets, rabbits, gerbils, etc.
              I, strongly, believe that snakes should not be pets, kept in glass enclosures and at the mercy of our feeding whim. They are very capable of self-sufficiency in the wild.

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              • it were just various examples, as i say by a closer view to the facts and needed habbits of the animals we keep as pets there arent any that should be pets! i also could draw this for cats, let cats roam is a nightmare for native wildlife keep then inside all the time isnt that what a cat really needs. domestic cats are subs from wild forms and these wild forms need to have teretories of several sqare miles so a house no matter how big isnt a proper place to live for them. what do you want to do now, do you want to be unresponsible and let them roam? or do you want to be responsible and keep it inside by the knowledge isnt the very best for them? you need to accept there isnt any perfect way in keeping animals as pets and as long you claim the right to keep any animal as a pet you dont have the right to say others dont have the same right. it’s not a question of the species you prefer case at least it’s all the same just with a different name and look. 😉

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              • Nope. Sorry.
                Wildlife is ill affected by cats, only humans. Most every animal is a predator, snakes included. They need to live the lifestyle they were intended to live.
                Glass enclosures are cruel.

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  5. comeon guys are you really that dumb, do you really believe people that have the mention to go for free kittens for their snakes will tell you about?
    next most people that own snakes dont feed live because of possible damage for their pets and never came in a mention to use a kitten for that reason!
    the food for snakes is one of the lowest point of costs in snake keeping and now do you really believe there are more than a hand full of sickos that risk to be charged and harm the image of their hobby by go for free give aways?
    at least even it would be the case there is one that would do, what is the difference betwen a rabbit? are you that racist to the animals that say a rabbit is ok because its regulary used for? ever thought about pet owners should be more responsible to their pets and dont let them breed without already having a good home by the hand for every single cub? how about desex them to avoid the missery of the need to get them of? ever thought about all the abdonned pets that fill the shelters and need to put down because of unresponsible owners that let their pets breed uncontrolled? ever thought about all the ferals that destroy native wildlife because of that too?
    and now you want to point with your finger to to someone you think its his fault? you are wrong with, the fault is yours because of being an unresponsible pet owner!
    and to complete the need for your upcoming flame war, do you really believe its any better these people that want to use free kittens would be any better by using “regular” feeder animals? these animals are breed in an indusrial way under lowest conditions possible. the conditions are that bad they suffer and many of them dont survive. most of them never seen any daylight before they are shipped to the shops or being prepared for “ethical correct” frozen feeders. the last ones are put together into plastic boxes or bags and gassed or even frozen alive! and now any one really think its less cruel or more correct to use one of these and support the industry behind instead of the use of a free give away thant only supports to overfill the shelters? keep in mind every free give away animal is guilty for an shelter animal thats not addopted!

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    • Claudia, I understand your argument completely. It is a tricky topic. The problem for me is that when a person feeds a pet snake a live animal it is wrong but when a snake eats a live animal in the wild it is right. That’s the way people feel about it and therefore the problem is that snakes should not be pets. In fact you might go a lot further and say many animals should not be pets and you might even go further than that and say that cats and dogs should not be pets either. You might go further than that and say the Wildcat that became a domestic cat should never have happened. The problem is with domestication of animals. When you do that you create complications such as the ones you have described.

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      • as i have say the number of people that feed live is about 10 percent or even less thats not a real point. of course everyone will have the though it will be the most people that feed live because of the reason most videos of feedings you see show this but you can believe me the very most snake owners never would take such clips. also the very most are that responsible to feed pre killed not only for the reason to protect their pets against a possible harm, they also do it because of the fact they have a heart and see the feeding as a nessesary bad of snake keeping and not as entertainment.
        and when you say the problem is with domestication of animals you are wrong, the probem is always the human that be unresponsible, the animals just act the way animals do nand its the assignment of the human to act responsible for them! every single species can make a great pet if you are resonsible and do proper care for it. i am not for or against keeping snakes as pets or the use of free kittens as a feeder for them. what i wanted to say is what makes me some sick is unresponsible pet owners, and people that need to get rid of a litter of cubs are unresponsible by fact, point with their fingers to others that have an objective and rational view and take their chance. maybe there are a few people that go for these free kitten as feeders but only a very few of them would ever came i a mention to feed such an defensive animal alive! yes i know alone the fact there are people that use kitten as feeders for their snake is unpleasant for the ones that use them as a pet but by all the facts i already have sayed about the whole theme it is not that bad at all as everyone says. at least everyone should take a look at her self and ask about he has done somthing wrong before judging about others that maybe are some more responsible by a closer and objective view. 😉

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        • The trouble is too many people don’t act responsibly and they never will which puts into doubt the whole concept of pets. Look at the number of feral cats in the USA. Snakes are not meant to be pets for God’s sake. Even if 10% feed them live prey it makes the whole thing wrong for me. Anyway where do you get the 10% figure from?

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          • i got the 10 percent by my personal experience, i have done some research across almost everything pet related over many years and so i can say there are only a very few people that do live feeding and very less ever would think about using kittens even pre killed. very most herpers are absolutely normal people other than some people say about. the sad is, same as with every other, there a some twisted people that bring the whole hobby and everyone involved to a bad light. if you objective read in forums and talk to the people you will figure out how the people stnd to things like live feeding or taking feeder clips, the very most dont do and dont like that. most that do live feeding will do it because of the reason one of their snake refuse to take prekilled but only then. and its not that number of snakes that wont take pre killed. people that do feed live for no real reason get a stigma by the community very fast. thats the reality behind, the evil persons do exist of course but they arent that much anyone need to say all or most herpers are that way. the major problem is when you read or see anything about its some of the bad most times just because its that what spread most and is more interesting than the rest. the interest of the majority in the world is into animals like cats and dogs so no one really cares about reptiles, they only do when something special goes on. for my part i love all animals the same and do an objective view behind the things to figure out whats the truth.

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            • I like your objectivity but you may have a slightly over-optimistic view of pet ownership. There is a lot of negligent pet ownership in the world and worse. Of course there are good pet owners too but too many pet welfare problems for my liking.

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