Man Tasered for Trying to Save Pets From Fire

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-09-07 11:41:00 UTC
Topics:

When fire spread to the Bakers' home from their neighbor's burning house, Damon Baker was able to escape with his wife, Monica, who is 8 weeks pregnant with triplets, and their two children. But their pets were still inside. While waiting for firefighters, Damon took action and started spraying the side of his house with the garden hose to slow down the rapidly spreading flames.

Police tried to get Damon to move a safer distance from the house, but he was trying to save his home and his pets. So the police hit him with a taser.

The animals trapped inside the house were 11 ball pythons. By the time the fire department arrived, they were only able to save five of the snakes. "This is the first time we've really had to bring snakes out of a structure like that," said Ken Ramsdell of the North Bell Vernon Fire Department. "Sometimes it's good to know if people have exotic animals." Maybe they would have been able to learn more about the reptiles if the owner hadn't been hit with high voltage.

The most ridiculous part? "Police said Baker will not be charged with any crime following the Taser incident." The idea of charging a man who was trying to save his burning home, where he had pets inside being scorched alive, shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

Granted, snakes are controversial pets. Although ball pythons are the smallest of the python species and known for being placid animals, they're still considered exotic pets. Several animal welfare organizations advise against keeping snakes of any size, since it can be difficult to meet their needs in captivity, many of them are still taken from the wild due to difficulties with captive-breeding, and irresponsible owners have a tendency to release them when they don't want them anymore, causing potential suffering for the snakes, as well as threatening local wildlife with a new predator and new diseases.

But none of those are reasons that a snake should be left to burn alive, or that any person should be expected to stand by while animals are suffering.

At least half of American pet owners consider their animals to be as much a part of the family as any human member. It's estimated that half a million pets are affected by house fires every year. I have to wonder if Baker would have been tasered had he been trying to save a couple of kittens or the family dog.

Photo credit: 111 Emergency

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Is the Anti-Whaling Campaign Racist?
NEXT STORY:
Petitions Delivered Around the World for Release of Indonesian Circus Dolphins

COMMENTS (3)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.