Washington Injury Law Blog

A tragic accident happened in Florida involving an escaped pet albino Burmese python and a 2 year-old girl.  The 8 foot long snake strangled the young girl yesterday despite the owners attempts at freeing the girl.  The pet python somehow escaped its glass terrarium and made its way into the girl’s room where it attacked her.  The snake was owned by the boyfriend of the girl’s mother.

The attack is being called a rare incident, but you never know what a wild animal will do.  The python was operating on basic animal instinct despite it being a family pet.  Special care is needed when you have an exotic and potentially dangerous pet.

If this was to happen in Washington state the owner of the snake could be subject to a wrongful death lawsuit.  Investigation at the scene revealed that the python had not been properly secured in its container.   The fact that it happened in the family home with a family pet with the consent of the mother could definitely give the boyfriend a very good defense.  But imagine if the python got out of the house and attacked a child playing outside.  In that case, the snake owner would have a serious problem and likely facing a wrongful death lawsuit in the immediate future.

Exotic pets that can be dangerous require great care and caution in making sure they are kept in a secure environment.  If you know a pet may be dangerous in certain situations, then you as an owner have the duty to take all the reasonable steps you can to make sure that situation does not happen.