A one-year-old is forced to fight a neutered cobra during a shocking snake-charming rite of passage in India.
The baby tries to protect itslef while being repeatedly hit by the animal, which has also had its mouth stitched up and its fangs removed.
This bizarre spectator sport – reportedly from Kasimkota in Andhra Pradesh – has been condemned by animal rights protesters after footage appeared on the internet.
They’ve warned that a cobra’s fangs grow back quickly, putting the youngsters in mortal danger.
Several snake charmers die each year while handling the animals.
(Thanks Jess!)
May 14, 2007 at 1:28 am
Yikes! After reading about the skinning of frogs for their *juice*, and seeing this thing, it has come to our attention that you need to lay off the horror flicks, and metal music for awhile…
May 14, 2007 at 1:36 am
Hey man: I report, you decide 😉
May 14, 2007 at 2:23 am
Crashing through the nite
Comes a fear-ful sight
Cobra!
COOOOBRA!
Cobra!
COOOBRA!
May 15, 2007 at 10:30 am
I feel sort of bad about it but this is one of my favourite posts of the year.
May 17, 2007 at 2:49 pm
When you’ve got divine right on your side, everything is okay. If invisible monsters that live in the sky say it’s okay to torture babies and animals, go for it.
Religion, superstition, magic… bad, m’kay?