Woman battles huge python to save dog’s life

A WOMAN threw herself into battle with a giant snake after it tried to strangle her pet dog to death.

Catherine Leonard was walking in a country park when the 15-foot long Burmese python attacked her beloved Poppy.

Leonard, 41, rushed to the rescue, grappling with the huge snake as one of her other dogs barked in alarm, the South China Morning Post reported.

“I kicked it and I tried to pull Poppy free. The snake was twisted around her, that was the problem,” she said. “Somehow Poppy managed to get away and the python slithered away.”

The attack on four-year-old Poppy took place in Sai Kung country park, close to where a 22kg husky dog was crushed to death by a snake last year when the owner’s similar rescue attempt was unsuccessful.

“Catherine was very courageous and definitely saved her dog’s life,” professional snake catcher Dave Willott said.

“It would have been unconscious within two minutes and dead within five.”

Burmese pythons are one of the world’s largest snakes and can grow to six metres and weigh over 100 kilos. Mr Willott advised anyone tempted to rescue a dog being crushed by a python to “start at the tail and get the coils off the dog and leave the head until last”.