An animal rescue service has relocated two large pythons to the Pilanesberg reserve after one swallowed a family’s dog and the second tried to consume a goat.

Neither snake got to enjoy their meals.

Charlotte Molefe of Bethanie in Brits in the North West told The Komorant newspaper a worker heard her pit bull cross crying in pain on Friday night. When he went to check, he saw the snake swallowing the dog.

Jac-Louis Horn from Critter Chronicles responded to the call for assistance and said when he arrived, the python spat out the dog. He said the python measured 4.1m in length and weighed 30kg.

Shortly after containing the snake, he received a call from a neighbouring farm where another python, this one 3.8m long, had caught a goat. The snake had not yet eaten it.

Both snakes have been safely released in the Pilanesberg reserve.