Pet cat eaten alive by python in Bristol garden

A pet cat was eaten alive by a 13ft-long Burmese python in a Bristol garden. The four-year-old tabby, called Wilbur, was attacked when he went into a garden where the snake was lying.

Wilbur's owners Martin and Helen Wadey heard his "blood-chilling cries" and rushed to a nearby house in Brislington. But they could not get a reply from the owner and could do nothing to save Wilbur. Mr and Mrs Wadey contacted the RSPCA, the snake was scanned and they confirmed a micro-chipped animal was inside. An RSPCA inspector later issued the snake's owner, Darren Bishop, with a verbal warning.

But Mr and Mrs Wadey want a change in the law so snakes are officially considered dangerous animals and need to be licensed. The couple, who live in Upper Sandhurst Road have set up a website called Justice For Wilbur and are petitioning 10 Downing Street to introduce "Wilbur's amendment". At the moment, anyone can go into a pet shop and pay about £130 for a Burmese python, despite the fact it could potentially kill.



Mr Wadey, 44, said: "We don't know whether Wilbur stumbled across the snake and it was an opportunistic kill, or if the snake was actively hunting him. But either way, we heard the python's strike from the terrified scream that came from Wilbur and the subsequent blood chilling cries as he fought for his life. Then in less than a minute, all was silent. He never stood a chance against a creature more than 13 times his weight with such immense power, Wilbur was crushed, asphyxiated and consumed whole."

It took two days for the couple to get hold of the snakes owner, Mr Bishop, and when they did they say they saw the snake had a bulge in its stomach. Mr Wadey said: "It was so traumatic for us. The sound of his cries and the fact we were so close by but couldn't help him has been very distressing. Wilbur was a cat that had to be treated with kid gloves. The fact he was trapped like this would have been his ultimate fear.

"He was inside a giant serpent being digested. I haven't been this upset for 23 years, since my mum died. We don't have any children, the cats are our family." Mrs Wadey, 41, said: "We do not want Wilbur's death to be in vain. We want those sorts of snakes to be licensed and for owners to be prosecuted if they leave them unattended as well as having to inform people living nearby that they own one."