PEOPLE living in the Far North%u2019s rainforests are urged to keep their pets indoors at night to avoid having them devoured by pythons.

The warning follows an attack on a small dog in Kuranda – the fourth reported incident from the rainforest village this year.

A 4m amethyst python was clubbed half to death by the dog’s owner after it attempted to consume the pet in the backyard around midnight on Wednesday.

The hungry reptile with a 12cm diameter body needed to be put down when Cairns Snake Removals owner David Walton arrived at the scene.

A licensed reptile carer also attended the property.

"It was a small breed of dog, and the snake had managed to wrap the dog up good and proper,’’ Mr Walton said.

He said the pet owner showed great remorse for his actions, however, had only been looking out for the welfare of his dog.

"It was definitely sad to see,’’ Mr Walton said.

"That’s why we do urge people who have pets living in rainforest areas to keep their pets indoors at night time.’’

Mr Walton said it would have been beneficial to have the snake relocated rather than killed.

"We like to keep them far enough away so they cannot reoffend and close enough so they are not totally removed from their native habitat,’’ he said.

It is not the first time a scrub python has attacked a dog in the rainforest village.

A 3m scrub python attempted to devour a Chihuahua in a backyard in March.

It was believed to be the same snake that stalked and ate Dot, a nine-month-old Jack Russell terrier while she was playing in her backyard just before Christmas.

And in February, a 5m amethyst python consumed a 35kg goat, horns and all, on a Nathan Rd property.

Australian Venom Zoo proprietor Stuart Douglas said: "If you have a snake hanging around, definitely try to get someone in to remove it. The snake will come back and come back and try and eat your dog."

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