It does seem incredible that, in the eyes of the law, there is nothing wrong in having a 13ft-long Burmese python slithering free in a suburban Bristol back garden.

Here is a creature which has the capability to kill a human being and did just that in an incident in America last month, claiming the life of a two-year-old girl.

The snake strangled her to death.

Here in Bristol the life lost was not that of a human.

It was the a neighbour's much-loved pet cat.

The snake caught it, crushed it, then consumed it – whole.

To make matters worse, the cat's owners, Martin and Helen Wadey, heard their pet's final "blood- chilling cries" as it was asphyxiated.

The snake's owner has now been given a verbal warning by the RSPCA animal charity.

The Wadeys, understandably, want matters taken further. They have launched a petition on the Downing Street website asking for a change in the current legislation.

They propose that reptiles such as this, which can be bought by anyone from pet shops, should be reclassified and officially considered dangerous animals.

Few, surely, on reading their traumatic story, will argue with them.