Snake Bite Story at the Arc of Avilon at Tiendesitas

[Langabe]

got an email regarding the incident... read on

PASS THIS STORY TO YOUR FRIENDS...

My Family and I visited the new Arc of Avilon (AoA) Zoo located at
Frontera Verde near Tiendesitas in Pasig last January 5, 2008. The
highlight of the said zoo is they allow people especially kids to touch
their animals like orangutan, parrots, eagles, rabbits, tortoise and
snakes.

And when you allow your kids to touch these animals, you trust that the
animals are harmless and are trained not to hurt its visitors.

Unfortunately, my 2nd daughter was bitten by an Albino King Snake. Her
finger was bloodied so I quickly ask where the clinic was located. I saw
a sign that read Hospital/Quarantine, I quicky open the door but found
nothing inside but some cages and two people talking. I ask if there's a
doctor there and they said none. Then the king snake handler came over
and directed us to follow him. I thought we would be brought to a
clinic. To my dismay, we were brought to a dirty pantry full of flies.
And the handler administered Betadine to my daughter's finger, which was
stored in a soy sauce gallon container. A park with no clinic, no doctor
and no medicine.

I took my daughter to the hospital, and upon reaching the hospital the
first question was what kind of snake bit my daughter. I told them its
an Albino King Snake. They were not sure whether the king snake is a
venomous or a non-venomous snake. They said they had to consult an
expert about this. After awhile, Thank God that the king snake was a
non-venomous one. But the doctors wanted to be sure so they gave my
daughter an anti-tetanus drug and ask her to take anti-biotics for seven
days.

After reaching home, I texted both Jake and Tina Gaw (owners of AoA)
that the doctor asked us to observe my daughters condition. I also told
them that I am going to write about this horrible experience. Tina
texted back and said: "Jerry, if thats how bad you felt, I respect your
personal feelings concerning the incident. I wish she (my daughter)
could have been more careful in handling the snake or other pets as well
especially this one is exotic. Even tame ones, rabbit, tortoise, mouse,
pig bite when they felt hurt or frighten when not properly handled. And
its really sad when you felt it became a horrible issue."

Now it's my daughter's fault to be bitten by the snake? AoA never
bothered to offer their help and now they blame my daughter for the
incident. That was a very insensitive remark by Tina. I don't think the
snake was hurt or frighten, they were tired and irritated because they
were being used to entertain people.

Exotic you say? Why allow them to be touched by people? Yes, I agree
that animals bite when they felt hurt or frighten, but let me remind the
management of AoA that most of your audience are children, I even saw
some as young as two years old. They will just touch and play with the
animals without knowing whether they're hurting them or not. It is AoA's
responsibility to make sure that none of their animals be hurt or
frigthen so that biting won't happen.

And since accidents happen, how come Arc of Avilon don't even have a
clinic to at least administer some first-aid soluton. What if the eagles
decided to peck the visitors, or use their big claws to attack the
visitors. Donkey or horse suddenly kicking. And snakes biting. There
shoud be a doctor, a clinic and first-aid kit to address this kind of
unfortunate incidents.

Arc of Avilon should not allow people to touch a snake that bites plus
they should have expert handlers to assist its visitors. All the Arc of
Avilon management can say is that the snake is a non-venomous one. No
other help was offered, and then they will blame the visitors for
mishandling the animals.

Am I overacting? I don't think so. What are the chances that you will
get bitten by a snake in the metropolis? Worst in a theme park like Arc
of Avilon. As a parent, will you take it sitting down? Will you just
take their word for it that it's non-venomous? Remember, its a
snake-bite. Let this be a warning to all my readers who are planning to
visit Arc of Avilon at Tiendesitas or any other zoo for that matter.

Let my story be a lesson to all. You can ask your kids to look but as
much as possible DO NOT TOUCH. Better yet, DO NOT VISIT the Arc of
Avilon totally, until they improve their facilities. Never again will we
go to the Arc of Avilon.

Thank you and more power. God Bless us all!

Jerry Liao

[FrankDrebin]

Wow! First, he should also blame himself for allowing his daughter to pet and touch the snake. Second, the zoo must have a resident doctor or nurse and a facility for these kind of emergency. Third, animals are animals.

[shadow]

saw this in the news last night....the author is some I.T. expert of sort always see him in different shows when I.T. was the subject...

anyways, ingat na lang siguro lalo na kung meron mga animals especially pag may kasamang mga bata..

[kinyo]

takot ko lang jan sa snake na yan ... so i only "shoot" them, like this one in singapore



i think tha's what they call albino king snake ... being rented by the man (on the left) for brave tourists!

[1D4LV]

saw this in the news last night....the author is some I.T. expert of sort always see him in different shows when I.T. was the subject...

anyways, ingat na lang siguro lalo na kung meron mga animals especially pag may kasamang mga bata..

he is not an it expert... but he claims to be. his expertise is mostly on gadgets and hardware....and as we all know, IT is really broad.

i would agree with the fact that it is his fault that he allowed his kid to touch an animal. ako, i really do not allow my kid to handle an animal even though it is such a harmless cat or a dog of a friend. animals are animals and they have instincts if they are nervous or startled.

[awing]

Wow! First, he should also blame himself for allowing his daughter to pet and touch the snake. Second, the zoo must have a resident doctor or nurse and a facility for these kind of emergency. Third, animals are animals.

+1

I saw it from the news yesterday. The girl should not touch the snake directly since she don't have any idea if it is venomous or not.

It's a LESSON.

[pitbullz]

i have been in the reptile hobby earlier than most people. and all i can say is that animals,like people have mood swings and unique individual temperament. a snake from a tame species can also be aggressive as well. specially if it's wild-cought. sometimes,when a snake is in pain or sick,it will also tend to be on the aggressive side as well...
i have been bitten by snakes as well,from the non-venomous variety to the slightly venomous types. all i can say is that sometimes,if not most of the time,its my fault. simply bec i failed to respect what the animal is and what its capable of.
ang dami ng sinabi ko hehehe
point being is...a snake is an animal. it should never be handled by kids even when there is supervision. you will never know what its thinking and how it will react. snake bites arent painful(at least for me),and are safer than most mammal bites but the added row of teeth can snag and cause injury to an adult's skin. what more to the tender young skin of a little child?
after being bitten. its advised to wash the area with soap as soon as possible and bleed it if you want to. and of course,apply antiseptic. for me,its ok if they dont have a physician around all the time. but a vet is a must. not only for treating animals but also to administer 1st aid for animal bites.
kung may disclaimer na nakalagay eh di walang kasalanan yun may ari

edit: yun nakapulupot sa F-4 palagay ko albino burmese python yan

[Galactus]

Jerry Liao? Di ba parang Technology columnist yan sa Inquirer? (Powertips and Bottomline). I believe his columns are more about hardware reviews and giving tips about MS Office and other software programs.

IMO, both sides are at fault. Buti na lang walang masamang nangyari dun sa bata

Edit: Yung snake sa picture, as pitbullz said, it is indeed an albino Burmese python. A king snake is smaller and has a more slender body.

[Mguy]

Me, I let my kids touch the animals at any petting zoo. Of course, all animals have the tendency to bite, be it a snake or a cute little rabbit. That is why I know that animals in petting zoos are either non-venomous or not deadly.

But I know the consequences that if they pat an animal the wrong way or the animal is just having a bad day, my kids can be bitten.

Surely enough I would not blame the animal for biting my kids. This is the risk of educating and appreciating animals so that they could be conserved in the wild. Part of the experience rin yan.

For me, medyo OA naman ang nag-reklamo. Ok na mag-reklamo na wala lang facilities a clinic dyan. Other than that, he should realize that in a certain degree, you put your kids at risk whenever you expose them to animals.

[mazdamazda]

Sorry, no sympathy from me. As said by some people, medyo OA yung email.

Animals are animals... touch them at your own risk as they say. Heck, even expert snake handlers get bitten by snakes every once in a while - there's no guarantee that you can "train" an animal to not bite 100%.

Plus what the snake handler did was enough for a small snake bite... just wash the bitten body part and then administer Betadine. I don't think you need a doctor & clinic to do that for you. :lol:

Btw, now that they mentioned it... we'll be visiting the Arc of Avilon when my pamangkin comes over to visit us.

[uls]

hirap mag negosyo dito sa Pinas.

Arte ng mga customer. hehe

Konting problema ipapa-media.

Ang media pa naman natin mahilig sa stories na business vs. kawawang customer.

ABSCBN reporter vs. Chowking, Ai-Ai vs. Ministop...

Hoy media, wala ba abusadong customer!?

ano expect ni Liao? May full service medical facility and medical staff ang isang maliit na "zoo"?

sige nga... mag hanap nga sya ng doctor and nurses na magwowork ng full time sa "clinic" ng isang mini "zoo"

At anong "zoo" ang kaya magpasweldo sa isang full time doctor & nurse?

E ung doctor nga na may clinic sa malaking hospital MWF or TTH 3 to 4 hours lang nanjan...

kung atakehin ka nga sa puso sa weekend, asahan mo novice doc or med student lang ang aatend sayo sa emergency room...

sa "zoo" pa!

[FrankDrebin]

BTW, whta is the purpose of the hate mail? Public warning, revenge, extortion, etc.?

[uls]

seeking compensation yan...

[pup2]

OA nga. Kahit naman sa Manila may ahas ah. Minsan nga may mga sawa at cobra pa nung humukay ng swimming pool para sa tita ko.

[claRkEnt]

dapat charge to experience na lang nung kid yan. Part of growing up and now (and even in the future) she has a wonderful story to tell sa friends nya.

masyado pinapalaki ang issue. wala naman nangyari except for the wound. masyado binebeybi ang mga kids in this generation eh.

[desolate_cat]

Hi everyone, newbie here.

All I know about Jerry Liao is that he is the geek looking guy that gives tips on MS office and hardware.

I also read in other threads that his kid was already 17 years old, and not a small child as was previously reported. Can anyone verify this? Wala naman common sense yung anak niya kung talaga ngang 17 years old na siya.

The caretaker that was interviewed on ABS CBN Bandila( this news program reported na dalagita na yung nakagat ) said that the kid suddenly grabbed the snake, without asking the caretaker permission if she could touch it. At least, that is what the guy said on camera.

Ano ba ang gusto nitong Jerry Liao person na ito? That Avilon give them at least 6 digits in compensation for all the trouble they went through? Saka non venomous snake naman yun, minor bite lang naman. His email sounded as if a cobra or an extremely poisonous snake bit his kid, lost her finger and nearly died.

Kasalanan naman talaga ng anak niya, di kasi nag-iisip. And when he said that they trust that the animals on display will not hurt the visitors, that just goes to show how ignorant he is. Also, his email did not say under what circumstance was his kid bitten. Puro paninisi na lang at demolition job ang pinaggagawa.

[Altis6453]

Hmm, obviously soliciting sympathy if not Pesos worth of comfort.

[uls]

ginagamit lang ni Liao ang pagiging "journalist" nya

he is just throwing his weight around

parang "hey, i wont let this pass, taga media ako! feel the power of the media!"

[mazdamazda]

The caretaker that was interviewed on ABS CBN Bandila( this news program reported na dalagita na yung nakagat ) said that the kid suddenly grabbed the snake, without asking the caretaker permission if she could touch it. At least, that is what the guy said on camera.

Aha! :busted:

Thanks for sharing this... I was also wondering why the said author didn't bother to delve into the details on how & why his child was bitten by the snake.

Sa haba ng reklamo nya (parang short story na), one liner lang yung snake bite explanation:

Unfortunately, my 2nd daughter was bitten by an Albino King Snake.

:hysterical:

[coiter]

dapat nga naging vigilant din yung nagsulat. nung nasa zoobic din kami, kahit nangingiyak na 1 yr old kid ko kasi gusto nyang hawakan yung tiger cub e di ko pinayagan. e kung bigla syang dambangin?? kahit anong sisi mo sa establishment e di mo naman mababago yung magiging kalagayan ng anak mo. so dapat super ingat na lang sa ganun, kasi talo ka talagaat na anak mo.

at medyo bent yung logic ng writer na porke available for petting yung animal means harmless na sya at total liability goes to the establishment. malay mo may mga warning signs at disclaimers na nakapost na dinisregard nila. so they should always practice vigilance regarding safety. period.

pero in fairness to the victims, there should have been at least a first aid station within the premises or free shuttle to medical city which is just around 5 mins away. or the staff should have been trained in first aid. the managers and staff should have also been more polite and accomodating since the incident happened within their establishment. i think ito talaga frustration ng writer.

i've been to avilon zoo in montalban. and all i can say is their facilities are superb and well kept. their staff are also pleasing and courteous. the animals also look healthy. so hopefully everything will end up good for both sides.