A 23-year-old woman has responded to accusations that she allegedly feeds her pet cats to her other pets.
According to Harian Metro, Syazlin Hafisya, also known as Kakak Raptor, has been regularly accused on social media of feeding cats to her pythons.
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“I would never feed cats to my pythons”
Syazlin has been taking care of 40 animals, including 9 pythons from Malaysia and Africa, as well as cats, civets, iguanas, raccoons, various species of geckos, and rabbits for almost 12 years.
She holds a wildlife permit and a Mobile Wildlife Exhibition (PBHL) permit from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), and while she does not deny that she owns pythons and also keeps cats, she has never once considered feeding cats to them.
“I love and care for cats, especially those on the streets, particularly the kittens, which is why I take them in and bring them home. Currently, I have nine cats, both pedigree and strays, and I never let them roam outside or anywhere near my exotic animals, including the pythons,” she added.
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“Wild and pet pythons aren’t the same”
Syazlin explained that cats aren’t the right food for pet pythons because they don’t provide enough nutrition for the reptiles. She ensures her pythons get the right diet based on their size.
She keeps all her cats in a special room, while her pythons are housed in a secure, locked aquarium outside.
She also pointed out that while wild pythons might eat cats or other animals when they’re hungry, pet pythons are a different story.
“We need to remember that wild pythons and pet pythons are not the same. A wild python eats whatever it finds because it has no choice. But with pet pythons, it’s up to us to make sure they’re fed properly,” she added.
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“Most of the claims are just rumours”
The Malaysian Stray Animal Welfare Association (SAFM) has gotten some unofficial reports about claims that kittens or cats are being fed to pythons.
However, SAFM President R Kalaivanan mentioned that they haven’t received any solid proof about this, which makes it hard to take further action.
“We know about the reports of kittens or cats being fed to pythons, but there’s no concrete evidence to confirm it,” he told Harian Metro.
He also pointed out that most of the information is based on social media posts and rumours.
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Also read: “He raised the python for 20 years” – M’sian Spends Final Moments with 240kg Pet Snake
