A tragic incident in Campbellton in which two boys were strangled to death by a large python is prompting the cancellation of some reptile shows across the Maritimes.
Little Ray’s Reptile show scheduled for a children’s festival in Sackville, N.B. this weekend has been cancelled by organizers out of respect for the victims, Noah and Connor Barthe.
“After thinking about it some more and talking to some people, we thought, out of respect for the family, we should probably cancel it,” says KidsFest organizer Ron Kelley Spurles.
Police said the boys, aged four and six, died after a 15-foot African rock python escaped its enclosure, slithered through a ventilation system and fell through the ceiling into the living room where the brothers were sleeping while staying at a friend’s home.
The apartment is located above Reptile Ocean, an exotic pet store, although the python was being kept in the home.
The boys' bodies were found by Jean-Claude Savoie – the building’s owner and the friend’s father -- early Monday morning.
Results from a preliminary autopsy released Wednesday show the boys died of asphyxiation. Investigators are still waiting for other test results to come back, as well as a final report, the New Brunswick RCMP said in a statement.
The incident has prompted calls for more rules and regulations when it comes to exotic pets, but Spurles says the decision to cancel the reptile show has nothing to do with the show itself, but rather the timing of the event.
Parent Jessie Boorne says the decision to cancel the show was the right one.
“I probably wouldn’t take my young boys to the snake show so I think it’s fine to cancel it for now,” says Boorne. “I think, if it was a few months down the road, maybe it would be a little easier for people to handle the emotions of it.”
Officials with Little Ray’s Reptiles have received a few other cancellation requests and have been asked to alter some shows by removing the snake portion of the presentation.
“It’s understandable but hopefully they’ll allow them to do a show in the future,” says parent Richard Kraan. “We’ve taken our kids to Ray’s Reptiles before and they’re totally professional and very educational for the kids.”
This is the sixth year for Sackville’s KidFest and Little Ray’s Reptiles have been part of previous events, but there is no word on whether they will return next year.
“Because it’s so fresh we’ll have to think about it again,” says Spurles. “I don’t know what will happen in several months’ time.”
Other KidsFest events will go ahead as planned.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis and CTVNews.ca
