In a bizarre incident, a man used his pet python as a weapon to attack another during a street fight in Toronto, Canada, last week.
In a video that went viral on social media, 45-year-old man Laurenio Avila can be seen swinging his pet snake and using it to kill a man in the middle of the road.
According to CBC NewsThe incident happened on May 10 at 11:50 p.m. in the area of Dundas Street West and Manning Avenue.
The video shows the victim trying to save himself, but Avila continues to beat him with the snake. Meanwhile, a police mobile reaches there and the policemen break up the fight and make the men lie on the ground. Meanwhile, the snake slipped.
In a statement, police said Saturday they received a call about a man threatening people with a snake and officers were dispatched to the area.
“A physical altercation ensued and the man used a python to attack the victim,” police added.
Avila, 45, was taken into custody and charged with assault with a weapon and causing unnecessary suffering or injury to an animal, the official said.
He appeared in court through video link on May 11 and was remanded in police custody.
Since being shared, the video has received over 14 million views, 43,000 likes and over 5,000 retweets.
Majority of the netizens termed the incident as a case of animal abuse and demanded the authorities to take appropriate action against the man.
Reacting to the video, one netizen wrote: “Animal abuse. I feel sick about people who keep snakes and birds as pets. This is sick, and this man needs to be prosecuted for abusing this snake. I hate people.