MELAKA: Three family members from Kampung Ulu Seraja in Parit Melana here watched in horror after a python killed their pet cats.

       House owner Hasmi Hassan, 56, said this was the first time that his cats were swallowed by a python.

       He said his wife Ruzita Abu Bakar, 53, heard a loud meowing at 3am on Wednesday (Jan 26) and initially thought a male cat was trying to mate.

       "However, the meowing continued before my 21-year-old daughter found a 4m-long python inside one of three cages where 14 of our cats are kept," he said in an interview here on Wednesday (Jan 26).

       Hasmi said the reptile attacked six of the cats before his daughter alerted the Alor Gajah Civil Defence Force (APM).

       "My family is saddened by the incident and we lost our pet cats, instantly.

       "It's unbelievable how such an enormous python made its way into a tiny wire mesh cage," he added.

       Alor Gajah APM's operation officer Leftenan (PA) Abdul Hadi Baharom said a distress call was received at 6.50am on Wednesday.

       He said four of his men managed to capture the python in just five minutes before releasing the reptile, weighing about 20kg, into its natural habitat.