A second pet dog has been killed by a huge python in a Hong Kong country park in two weeks, SCMP reports.
A five metre (16 foot) long snake crushed Katie Heyring's pet dog to death in front of her and her two young children on Saturday.
Heyring, an art dealer from Britain, said they had tried to fight off the huge python by hitting it with a walking stick, but when she realised her dog had died, she was forced to leave it in the snake's grip and return home with her children, aged five and seven, and other dogs.
The incident comes two weeks after a couple fought off a python with a pocket knife after it attacked their dog, which was injured, but survived.
"It was massive … easily about five metres, because Charlie was a big dog of about 28kg," Heyring said of the latest attack. "It happened so quickly [within] a few seconds."
Dave Willott, a snake catcher in Sai Kung, said the python that attacked Charlie could be the same snake behind the three previous attacks. He advised dog owners to keep their pets on the leash while out in the countryside as pythons were ambush predators that lay in wait for prey.
He also suggested keeping handy a small bottle of alcohol, which could be sprayed at or poured into the python's mouth or nose to make it loosen its grip.
In related snake news, a Burmese python ended up on a Hong Kong promenade after torrential rains washed it down from the hillside. The snake bit a handler as it was transferred to a wildlife park.
[Image via Flickr]
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