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Girl Threatened over Exotic Pet

January 14, 2015 permalink

Jamie Guarino is a professional snake handler who let his baby daughter play with a python. Michigan child protectors are investigating the family. Here is a local copy (mp4) of the embedded video.

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Human Services Officials Alerted to Kids Who Play with Pythons

The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office has initiated an investigation after viral video shows toddler playing with Burmese python.

toddler with Burmese python
Barcroft TV’s video of a White Lake toddler playing with a Burmese python has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Screenshot: Barcroft TV video

Child protective workers have begun an investigation into a White Lake couple who allow their children to play with Burmese pythons.

Oakland County Chief Prosecutor Paul Walton told The Oakland Press authorites have asked the Michigan Department of Human Services to determine if abuse or neglect is takling place in the home.

The county prosecutor’s office initiated the investigation after becoming aware through media reports that Jamie Guarino’s children play with Nay-Nay, a 13-foot python, and other large snakes in some of the approximately 105 videos on his SnakeHuntersTV channel on YouTube and his website.

Guarino thinks Burmese pythons get a bad rap and are suitable as family pets. He said his at-the-time 14-month-old toddler was never in any danger in the video of Barcroft TV’s YouTube channel that has been viewed 1.5 million times.

Walton said he can’t recall the prosecutor’s office ever having initiated a child-abuse investigation involving snakes, but said officials launched investigations after children were allowed to be around vicious dogs, including one in which a pit bull chewed off a child’s foot.

Source: Huntington Woods-Berkley Patch

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