It was the case that started the laws: A young child was killed by the family pet Burmese Python.

The 8-foot snake, owned by Jason Darnell, was not properly fed or housed. An aquarium with a quilt as a cover is by no means a proper enclosure, and at a mere 13 lbs, we all knew the animal was underweight. Members of the reptile community all screamed, "The snake was starved, the owners were bad," and although we're being proven right as more information comes out about the case, the backlash still falls on us.

From Tampa Bay Online:

According to a death investigation by the Department of Children and Families, Jaren Hare's mother, Sheryl, was concerned about her daughter's ability to care for the python and a smaller snake.

Sheryl Hare told a DCF investigator that a week before the attack, she offered to buy rats for the snakes because the couple had neither jobs nor money. She said she also offered to get sealed containers for the snakes and to keep the snakes at her home.

Both offers were rejected, she told investigators.

[....]

Darnell recalled how the python snatched a roadkill squirrel from his hand about a month before the attack.

Improper care, not the python were to blame here. This article hits the press just as the 111th Congress is being seated -- a whole new crop of legislators coming to the house. I strongly suspect the ember is still burning in the woodpile beneath the federal legislation, and we had best not let our guard down for one moment.