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  The Straits Times 19 Nov 06
Python squeezes pet dog to death at River Valley condo
3.5m snake managed to slither away from responding policemen
By Lee Hui Chieh & Chong Chee Kin

MISS Glenda Liu's evening walk with her boyfriend's two dogs turned into a nightmare on Wednesday, when a 3.5m python emerged from the darkness and wound itself around seven-year-old Jack Russell terrier Bella, crushing the animal to death.

Police, responding to a call about a woman in distress at the Aspen Heights condominium in River Valley Road, arrived at the scene without appropriate tools to deal with the snake.

The officers spent 20 minutes prising Bella from the snake's grip with a golf club, but it managed to give them the slip and slithered away. By then, the dog was already dead.

Contacted yesterday, police spokesman Assistant Superintendent Stanley Norbert said the initial information given by the caller was about 'a woman in trouble'. 'It was not apparent...what the problem was and our officers went down to investigate,' he said.

The Sunday Times understands that the condominium's management office has since put up posters warning residents about the python. Pest control teams have made two unsuccessful attempts to find the snake.

Still, it was cold comfort to Bella's owners, 37-year-old sales director Matt Walterhausen and Miss Liu, a 22-year-old private school student. Mr Walterhausen, who returned to Singapore from a conference in Thailand the day after the incident, said: 'I'm devastated. My dogs are like valued family members. You can appreciate their level of importance to me for me to spend thousands of dollars taking them everywhere.'

He had spent close to $20,000 bringing the dogs from China, where he last worked, to Singapore. Apart from grieving for his pet, Mr Walterhausen was also concerned about the safety of the children in the condo. 'The size of a toddler and a dog are not much different and the children could be attacked,' he said.

Pythons, which can grow to more than 7m long, are generally defensive by nature and usually feed on small creatures like birds or rodents. They tend not to attack humans, unless they feel threatened.

Mr Walterhausen said they have informed the landlady that they will be moving out of the condo today. They have been living there for over seven months now. The sudden termination of the lease means he loses his $7,000 security deposit.

For Miss Liu, that appears to be the best course of action. She said: 'When I see the grass patch now, I'm so scared that my legs tremble. 'My head is filled with the images of the snake around my yelping dog, and I can't sleep. 'We lost our baby.'
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