Jul
01Todays tragedy in Florida
Adam Wysocki Media, News, Pet Owners, pets Add you comment
Today was a difficult today. It’s difficult being a pet owner and advocating for pet owners on a day when a 2 year old girl lost her life to a pet. The death of a child is never something that should be dismissed or explained away and I don’t intend to do that. What I would like to do is reflect on personal responsibility.
Based on what is being reported by the media, this tragedy could have been prevented if Charles Darnell (the owner of the python) had taken personal responsibility for the care of his animals or for the safety of people in his home. Mr. Darnell should have kept his python in a secure, escape proof enclosure, just like the tens of thousands of other python owners in America do. It’s not like he didn’t know that his snakes enclosure was worthless for securing his snake … he told sheriffs deputies that the snake frequently escaped in the past. Last night, with small children spending the night in his home and knowing that his python frequently gets out in the middle of the night, Mr Darnell should have done more than just gone to sleep. A little girl is dead because Mr Darnell didn’t act responsibly as a python keeper or as an adult.
Some people say that asking people to have personal responsibility is asking too much. Some say, just don’t allow people to keep snakes because they’ll never be responsible enough to keep dangerous animals like giant pythons. Would those people say the same about swimming pools? Did you know that from 1990 – 1995 9,720 people died in swimming pools in the United States? That’s just a small 5 year period. In contrast according to the Humane Society of the United States, since 1980, there have only been 12 deaths involving pythons … and a couple of those deaths were related to zoos and had nothing to do with pet ownership. 12 deaths in 30 years certainly is tragic, but far better than a lot of other statistics we see when potentially dangerous things like swimming pools, hand guns, all terrain vehicles (ATVs) are kept without personal responsibility. 12 deaths in just about 30 years is a testament to the seriousness and personal responsibility that python keepers exercise in the care of their animals. As with swimming pools, and hand guns, and even all terrain vehicles there are always certainly going to be individuals that do not exercise personal responsibility and allow tragic accidents to occur. The good news is that we live in a country where lack of judgement or responsibility by the few does not result in the punishment of the many and the responsible. Or at least that’s how I believe the founding fathers imagined it would work.
Some people saw that more laws will help. Really? Mr Darnell was already in violation of Florida law. He did not have the required permit for his animal and he did not keep the animal in a secure enclosure as mandated by the state of Florida. What makes anyone believe that more laws will suddenly turn Mr Darnell into a law abiding citizen? Laws will only force people underground. Laws will only cause more tragedies like todays to occur.
So what’s the answer? I’m not sure that it’s as simple as that. If there was a magic wand that someone could wave that would prevent what happened today in Florida from happening again, or stop the hundreds of drownings that will occur in swimming pools this summer, or save a single child from falling off the back of a ATV I have no doubt that it would have been waved by now. I only know what I believe to be true and that’s the simple idea of personal responsibility. I think that if you’re a python owner and you’re reading this blog because you’re worried about someone taking your python away you need to ask yourself a question. Where does your personal responsibility end? Is it just making your that your snake is in a secure enclosure and well taken care of and that you are following all local, state, and federal laws with regards to your pet? Or is it more than that? Should you be doing more? Can you do more? Could you figure out how to start educating people you know about pythons? Friends, co-workers, strangers? Could you spread the word that sensational media aside, owning constrictors is certainly not for everyone, but for you it’s completey safe and a lot of fun? Do you think that you could convince one person that was afraid of snakes that there really is no reason to be afraid when snakes are kept responsibly? Could you convince two people? How about three? Now imagine if every python owner convinced three people a month that they have nothing to fear from pet pythons? How about three people a week? How long do you think it would take before python owners didn’t have to worry about losing their snakes anymore? Not long I’d guess.
To the rest of my pet owning friends reading this … the bird owners, fish keepers, dog, cat, and small mammal lovers … how about your personal responsibility? Not just to your pets … not just to your “animal of choice” … but to your fellow pet owners. Are you the type of pet owner that is content to say “as long as they’re not coming after my pets they can do what they want to the python people”? Really? Because it could be you next. It could be you now. Maybe there’s a bigger picture when it comes to pet ownership and personal responsibility. Maybe it’s about more than just “ourselves”. Maybe, it’s about “each other” too. So if you own a bird, or dog, or cat, or gerbil, or reef tank, next time you hear someone trashing python owners and their right to own pythons … maybe you can put in a good word for them .. because in the end, they’re a pet owner just like you.
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