Info Courtney & George Schertler - Retic Owners Watch Puppy Being Eaten and Posts Pics

[Helenthereef]

Goodbye, Ben.

I second / third that!

 

[DesertRat73]

Let's see, facts of puppydom... covered. Chihuahua on snake... covered. Good bye Ben... covered(this made me just a bit). Refusal to let stupidity proliferate the industry a little more... covered.

 

[DestinyLynette]

So, after reading this thread, everyone has said anything I could add to the discussion. For the record, I'd like to point out that not everyone from Mississippi are ignorant hicks who do these kinds of moronic things. Sigh, people like this make the rest of the country think Honey Boo Boo is the norm down here...

The puppy on the snake basically killed any "accident" argument one might have had- as if the fact the Retic was just roaming hadn't.

 

[DesertRat73]

not everyone from Mississippi are ignorant hicks who do these kinds of moronic things. Sigh.

We know, nor are they the norm in this hobby/industry. But when they allow this stuff to happen, it's usually in spectacular fashion.

 

[the_yellow_pony]

These individuals were in a retic group I belong to on facebook at one point and were called on poor husbandry/species being kept together/dogs being in the pictures.

They were not around for long.

I know most people here are on the same page BUT arguing accidents vs negligence is laughable at best.

An accident is typically not preventable. Your puppy getting eaten by your retic is 10000% preventable.

Pics like this(also pulled off Courtney's PUBLIC facebook (*search Photos by Courtney Schertler *)

Show blatant negligence:

As someone who keeps large constrictors AND owns several cats/etc, these are the same kind of people that would say something like " oops, my 3 month old nephew got eaten by my retic but my father in law was supposed to be watching so it was just an accident".

Disgusting negligence about sums it up.

 

[ElexisC]

Diem even though we've had our "differences" to say the least I am forced to agree. I didn't even read the whole thread. Didn't want to. It's clear they made up an "excuse" their step father grandpa whatever he was was watching the snake? So how did the puppy get so close and was grabbed before he could grab the puppy is he was sitting there watching the snake?? I recently found a post on my local craigslist blaming all of us snake owners of "collecting cats and kittens to feed to their snakes" I made a rebuttal to the post and received an email telling me about a video of a woman feeding a kitten to her large snake. Has anyone seen this? I tried to find it (only to verify it) but only came up with videos ABOUT a woman or man feeding a kitten to the snake but not the actual video itself so I personally cannot say it exists. But stuff like this DOES damage our hobby and the reputation of ALL OF US!

 

[ElexisC]

Ok it shows the last post is from August 2013 why it just gave me a notification saying this topic was still being discussed or whatever I don't know. Only reason I commented was because of the notification that made it seem "new"but anyways I have 5 boas now. I rehomed my iguana (he was a rescue) I wanted him to be able to get out and roam. I have 2 dogs as well. Which is WHY I would not let him roam the house. I do not let my dogs near the boas! Even though the babies are too small to do anything. My dogs are terrified of the chickens, mainly the rooster so I really have no worries there. Go figure pitbulls afraid of chickens lol but the point being responsible people DO NOT commingle different species! It is irresponsible at best. It makes me SICK to see people putting their pythons on their cats or dogs to take photos or iguanas with cats the list goes on. They say "oh they're best friends" no they are not! One day one of those animals will kill the other and YOU are the one responsible.

 

[ShadowAceD]

It's weird that you did comment because I was JUST talking to someone about this post less than two days ago.

I have not seen either of these people in this hobby since all of this happened, and hopefully they are not, but you are correct; this was unavoidable and 100% their fault. What bothered me most about this entire situation is they were warned multiple times about letting that puppy near the larger constrictors and people literally pleaded with them to keep them separate because a worse case scenario could be very damning.

It is our responsibility as keepers to drop the statistical possibilities of something tragic like this happen as close to 0% as we can get. If we fail to do that, we are failing and hurting our animals and everyone else involved in our hobby.

 

[j_dunlavy]

But stuff like this DOES damage our hobby and the reputation of ALL OF US!

This is why we all come down so hard on irresponsible people in the BOI; any bad situation is automatically applied to all reptile keepers.
whether it is feeding inappropriate animals to snakes and bragging about it, staging photos of inappropriate or dangerous situations, neglect, abuse, knowingly selling sick animals, etc; we should all be very concerned. This is how we all lose our rights at the hands of a few.
By weeding out those who are irresponsible and keeping the hobby clean, we have a better shot at keeping our hobby in a positive light. We have to prove to those who do not like reptiles that we are responsible people and we do not tolerate those who are negligent with their reptiles.
Keeping bad situations from happening and removing the few irresponsible keepers is one of the most important things we can do to preserve our hobby.

The subjects of this thread are just one example of why large constrictors are so hated by the uneducated masses; media outlets will make it seem like this is commonplace to get ratings while those who do nothing wrong are punished for other people's negligence.
People like this (subjects of this thread) make me (and safe to say, all responsible reptile keepers) angry, and I hope they stay out of the hobby for good.

(end rant)

 

[ElexisC]

I just don't understand why it popped up in a notification like it was being discussed lol but yes people who are irresponsible need to listen. Need to keep their animals separate. Because things like this will happen. I could not believe it when I saw the post on CL it went from "don't throw your pets outside" to "don't advertise free to good home because people with snakes are collecting them to feed to their snakes" like whoa way to spread misinformation. There is not a single shred of proof people in my area are doing that and I was told it was all over ONE video of some deranged person.

 

[ShadowAceD]

I just don't understand why it popped up in a notification like it was being discussed lol but yes people who are irresponsible need to listen. Need to keep their animals separate. Because things like this will happen. I could not believe it when I saw the post on CL it went from "don't throw your pets outside" to "don't advertise free to good home because people with snakes are collecting them to feed to their snakes" like whoa way to spread misinformation. There is not a single shred of proof people in my area are doing that and I was told it was all over ONE video of some deranged person.

Pick a random "Pets" section on CL in a random state and a random city and you are likely to find the same post.

I have seen them on pretty much any CL pet section I've looked through regardless of state and city.

Most of them are likely posted by AR nuts, but they like to paint all of us as irresponsible jerks who take free animals off CL and feed them to our animals.

 

[AbsoluteApril]

This is starting to turn into a general discussion, which is great - in the discussion forums ( ) but let's keep the rest of this BOI post on topic please (Courtney and George).

 

[hupababy_83]

I don't even know where to start... I guess I fear for the children. I think I read that the two big snakes (retic and boa) live in a room... no cage was mention, no enclosure, no tank, no type of secure measures. Please tell me I'm wrong! I would never sell to them on that suspicion alone. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

As for the puppy being eaten... it should never have been around that snake. I'm not going to debate cats and dogs and rats and pigs for feeders, what's ethical, and what's not. I know I would never eat dogs but I have a couple cousins who eat it for traditional medicine ceremonies. That doesn't mean I support pets for feeders. No where in America have I seen where pets have been bred for feeders. It's not just not accepted.

Why would they have an elderly man watching a retic? Why would they have A SINGLE MAN WATCHING A SNAKE OF THAT SIZE? When my boas grew over six feet I always had another adult with me, just incase!

I hope no one sells to these irresponsible people again.

 

[minicopilot1]

Trailer park trash! Is that Honey Boo Boo's mother!

 

[SILVER_SPUR_PYTHONS]

Trailer park trash! Is that Honey Boo Boo's mother!

I BELEIVE YOUR RIGHT, There is a similarity lol....Trailer trash is an understatement however... They're the DECAY of our society that CAUSE and INFLUENCE reptile banning Laws.....Irresponsible owners like them are the bad apples....They ruin it for the rest of the good bunch.

They shouldn't be allowed to even own a cricket farm!!!

I will be sure to never sell Retics... or even a milksnake to those trash.....




SILVER SPUR PYTHONS

 

[zooman]

Accidents can happen - especially if there is negligence involved - Is it still an accident then- or something forseeable that could have been prevented? I think we all can agree its tragic and was preventable. I think posting pics of it does draw the wrong impression for the whole hobby of Herpetoculture, However, if someone is going to have -accidents- and not use what others deem as common sense, how do we communicate that within the hero industry without having one bad apple picked up by the media and making news about it - which in turn helps more restrictive laws pass everywhere. I'm struggling with the knowledge of someone who has been negligent and owes me $ and I don't know how to pursue, as it too is appalling and could end up -newsworthy- Then...more laws... So, my question is... do we have a moral obligation to report bad scenerios, which in turn can end up hurting the pet industry as a whole? Will there be a day when we need permits to keep even goldfish if we feed the media stories or are we helping to actually resolve the isolated incidents? Moral dilemna, and not much off topic as why did I even click on this post and respond? What happens when owners do irresponsible things or see others being irresponsible and its posted? Those are a few of my questions. Lastly, posting a pic of a retic eating a puppy is just asking for PETA headaches.....and that doesn't stand for Pythons Eating Tasty Animals..... let's agree to keep dogs and pythons separate at least....
Steve

 

[zooman]

typo.... herp industry.... not hero....

 

[Billy1138]

my biggest issue with this scenario is that the incident was photographed, and shared on social media. If I had an incident such as this, whether it was an accident or due to my irresponsibility I wouldn't photograph it. If my dog was playing in the street and a car hit her, my first reaction wouldn't be to run and grab my cell phone to take pictures for facebook. (This leads me to feel that it wasn't an accident, and the dog wasn't really cared for as a pet-just my opinion)

I'm glad this thread came back up, is there any updates to this situation at all?

 

[reptilebaby]

I have just finished reading this, and its completely ridiculous. all moral obligations aside-whether or not people in other countries eat them, yes different countries and cultures do this. it is ILLEGAL in the usa to feed a dog or cat to any animal. I know people that have been arrested for eating a dog, they were korean and didnt know they couldnt do it here. the laws in different places are as different as night and day, but doesnt change the face that, by feeding a dog to snake, yes i believe it was a purposeful act, they commited an illegal act.