"Regardless, some criticism is due whether the snake was intentionally let loose or escaped. A responsible snake keeper should not have snakes escaping or be letting them loose."

I respectfully disagree. No assumptions or criticism should be made unless there is some evidence pointing to an "irresponsible owner." Why do we bypass the presumption of innocence in cases like this, especially when there isn't even a suspect?? If we are going to assume things, why not assume that it wouldn't make sense for irresponsible owners to release a snake into the wild. If someone can't afford to take care of a snake, why wouldn't they sell the snake? Even morons know the value of money. And if someone is so irresponsible, wouldn't the Burm be dead due to poor husbandry before it could be released? IMO, we are helping groups like HSUS by coming to conclusions without supporting evidence.

What's really sad that all this hysteria and finger pointing (at the nebulous "irresponsible keeper" is based on irrational fear. So what if one or two pythons escape every year? We live in an imperfect world, sometimes accidents happen. If one or two escaped pythons every year is such a huge problem, then what about the thousands of dogs that get loose every week? What about all the violent criminals that are paroled all the time? Dogs and parolees are infinitely more dangerous than a loose python. Where's all the hysteria for those things?

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