# Dog saves owner from brown snake in Qld



## Flaviemys purvisi (May 12, 2018)

Laura Polson AAP
May 10, 2018


*Pet dog Shelby is being hailed a hero for protecting her owner from a venomous snake.*

A pitbull cross is being hailed a hero for pushing her owner out of the way of a deadly Eastern brown snake in far north Queensland.

Teena Williams, 69, was cutting down bananas at her Millstream property, near Ravenshoe, when her pet dog Shelby stopped the potential attack by the venomous snake on Anzac Day.

_"She was determined to virtually barrel mum to the side. She saved mum's life," _Ms Williams' daughter Tanya Lee told AAP.

_"I work in a triple zero call centre and we get snake calls all of the time. If the snake had bit mum she might not have survived."_


Ms Lee said Shelby, who is never far from Ms Williams' feet, is now what her mum calls 'her little lifesaver'.

But after Shelby saved Ms Williams' life the fight was on to save hers when they realised she had been bitten by the snake.

_"She was salivating and getting weaker," _Ms Lee said.

Being a public holiday, the family had to drive 50km to the nearest vet.

_"Everything was just distressing," _she said.

The vet bill came to $1400, a price Ms Lee says was worth it.

_"The vet told us she was very lucky to be alive," _she said.


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## cris (May 12, 2018)

Something must be wrong I thought it was against the rules for the media to have positive stories about pitbulls. Most of the stories I hear about snake bite involve higher vet fees and a dead dog.


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## Nero Egernia (May 12, 2018)

So when a dog kills a snake it's considered a hero? Not in my books.


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## Flaviemys purvisi (May 12, 2018)

Nero Egernia said:


> So when a dog kills a snake it's considered a hero? Not in my books.


I don't see a mention of the snake getting killed... Just a dog owner getting knocked aside and a dog "taking one for the team."


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## Nero Egernia (May 12, 2018)

Flaviemys purvisi said:


> I don't see a mention of the snake getting killed... Just a dog owner getting knocked aside and a dog "taking one for the team."



That's true. I suppose the story can be open to interpretation seeing as the fate of the snake has not been mentioned, and yet the dog was somehow bitten. Snake bites usually occur when someone or something was attempting to catch or kill the snake. But the story's small and scant on details. Who knows what really happened?


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## Flaviemys purvisi (May 12, 2018)

Nero Egernia said:


> That's true. I suppose the story can be open to interpretation seeing as the fate of the snake has not been mentioned, and yet the dog was somehow bitten. Snake bites usually occur when someone or something was attempting to catch or kill the snake. But the story's small and scant on details. Who knows what really happened?


Never kept nor would I ever keep pitty's, however I for some reason don't think they'd be real good "snakers" like when compared to Jack Russell Terriers and Foxy's. Not at all surprised that it copped the pointy end of the snake, however, glad the old lady was "protected" by her faithful K9 and glad Shelby made a full recovery.


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## GBWhite (May 14, 2018)

I don't read Kev's posts these days but I presume this is the same story that read about on Yahoo 7 News where a pitbull allegedly saved it's owner form a brown snake bite. I told my wife and she googled it to have a read and found these stories from the USA alleging similar incidents.



http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/pit-bull-saved-boy-from-snake-attack/

Interestingly, in the story on the One Green Planet site the boy who is alleged to have been saved just happens to be named Shelby which coincidentally is the name of the dog in this story rolleyes. It appears that both dogs, just as in this story, had to be "rushed to the vet for life saving treatment".

Call me sceptical but I think I smell a rat...hahaha.


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## cris (May 14, 2018)

GBWhite said:


> I don't read Kev's posts these days but I presume this is the same story that read about on Yahoo 7 News where a pitbull allegedly saved it's owner form a brown snake bite. I told my wife and she googled it to have a read and found these stories from the USA alleging similar incidents.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I don't like pitbulls as a breed, and most people who keep them are low lifes in my experience. I could say the same about various other types of people and animals on average, if it was legal. That said it is standard behaviour of a loyal dog to put itself between their owner and harm.

Pit bulls are banned by many councils. Next they try to ban rottis etc. It would make much more sense to ban brown snakes as they kill far more people and are not suitable as pets for children.


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## Buggster (May 15, 2018)

“Illegal pitbull attacks snake who was minding his own business”

There. Fixed it
[doublepost=1526312537,1526295308][/doublepost]


cris said:


> I don't like pitbulls as a breed, and most people who keep them are low lifes in my experience. I could say the same about various other types of people and animals on average, if it was legal. That said it is standard behaviour of a loyal dog to put itself between their owner and harm.
> 
> Pit bulls are banned by many councils. Next they try to ban rottis etc. It would make much more sense to ban brown snakes as they kill far more people and are not suitable as pets for children.




Don’t know the numbers off the top of my head, but there been what, 3 deadly reports of brown snake bites this year?

To put it into perspective, in America there are more than 30 deaths each year as a result of dog attacks (with 90% of breeds listed as ‘pitbulls’).
Just saying...

And not to mention they are technically banned nation wide, so I don’t know what this person is trying advertising she has a pitbull. It comes with a huge fine and several (expensive) requirements the dog must adhere to (concrete lockable run, muzzled in public, handled by someone 18+, desexed, unable to be sold/rehomed (pts if it ever ends up in a pound)).

Of the 5 banned breeds in Aus, pretty sure they are/were all bred for dog fighting. Natural extreme prey aggression. Never bred as pet dogs. 


Although honestly 99% of ‘pitbulls’ are just bully breed mutts... and those are pet dogs so...


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## bluedragon (May 15, 2018)

cris said:


> I don't like pitbulls as a breed, and most people who keep them are low lifes in my experience. I could say the same about various other types of people and animals on average, if it was legal. That said it is standard behaviour of a loyal dog to put itself between their owner and harm.
> 
> Pit bulls are banned by many councils. Next they try to ban rottis etc. It would make much more sense to ban brown snakes as they kill far more people and are not suitable as pets for children.


why are they low lifes i know 4 peaple who own pure bred pittys and there so mellow in my opinion


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## Pauls_Pythons (May 15, 2018)

cris said:


> Pit bulls are banned by many councils. Next they try to ban rottis etc. It would make much more sense to ban brown snakes as they kill far more people and are not suitable as pets for children.



I don't know too many children who keep brown snakes as pets cris or maybe
I'm misinterpreting the information here.
[doublepost=1526341727,1526341654][/doublepost]


bluedragon said:


> why are they low lifes i know 4 peaple who own pure bred pittys and there so mellow in my opinion



Nothing wrong with the breed its bloody humans as usual that want to create a monster.


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## bluedragon (May 15, 2018)

Pauls_Pythons said:


> I don't know too many children who keep brown snakes as pets cris or maybe
> I'm misinterpreting the information here.
> [doublepost=1526341727,1526341654][/doublepost]
> 
> Nothing wrong with the breed its bloody humans as usual that want to create a monster.


well said Paul its how the owner treats the dog i own a doberman they were almost banned along with the great danes and rotties from australia same with all the other breeds
[doublepost=1526357768][/doublepost]


cris said:


> I don't like pitbulls as a breed, and most people who keep them are low lifes in my experience. I could say the same about various other types of people and animals on average, if it was legal. That said it is standard behaviour of a loyal dog to put itself between their owner and harm.
> 
> Pit bulls are banned by many councils. Next they try to ban rottis etc. It would make much more sense to ban brown snakes as they kill far more people and are not suitable as pets for children.


i dont recall hearing any kid owning a brown


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## cris (May 15, 2018)

bluedragon said:


> well said Paul its how the owner treats the dog i own a doberman they were almost banned along with the great danes and rotties from australia same with all the other breeds
> [doublepost=1526357768][/doublepost]
> i dont recall hearing any kid owning a brown



My point was easy to miss, I don't support banning brown snakes, potentially dangerous dogs, guns and most drugs. By Australian standards at least, I'm a libertarian. The fact is that there are people around who want to ban anything that can be potentially dangerous. They start with pitbulls or AR15's and don't stop until everything is banned, the only thing left alone often seems to be the people responsible.

The danger of dogs is due to genetics and environment, in some cases it will be more of one than the other and different breeds are much more dangerous than others. It is safe to keep extremely violent dogs, provided the owner does the right thing. Just like many people safely keep snakes that should not be around small children.


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