Woman devastated after 50kg python slithers into her lounge and eats her dog

A woman from Louis Trichardt in Limpopo has been left heartbroken after a python devoured her dog.

Frikkie Venter, a snake catcher and environmental expert, said the incident happened in the 60-year-old woman's lounge, which serves her bedroom as well, in the early hours of the morning.

"The woman lives on a farm and was aware of the snake, which is usually in the fruit orchards," said Frikkie.

"She saw the snake late Saturday afternoon at her front door.

She called her dog home and closed all the doors. However, she did not close the lounge windows.

"The woman was sleeping in her living room. The snake probably came in through that window during the night,” he explains.

Frikkie says he suspects the python was in search of somewhere cool to rest.

"She was suddenly woken up in the early hours of the morning when she heard her dog whining when the snake bit him."

He says that everything happened so fast, the woman could not do anything to save the dog.

"You cannot kill this kind of snake because it is wild and because it’s on the list of protected species," he says.

Frikkie says he released the snake, which is 3,5 m long and weighs about 50 kg, on another farm far from humans.