Carrefour Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur is selling a dubious 'line of products'. Whilst I was doing my usual grocery shopping in this supermarket, I walked by the aisle for animal-related products.

My attention was drawn to a sign that prohibited photography, accompanied by an utterly bored Carrefour employee, looking anything but ready to enforce this policy.

I curiously approached the aisle, wondering what required these secretive policies. Coming closer, I could not believe my eyes. Several shelves were lined with mini-terrariums/ aquariums containing one or more snakes each!

After I got over my state of shock, horror and sadness about the living conditions of these poor animals, I decided that something needed to be done about this.

I believe it is morally wrong to sell snakes, and more so in a supermarket for a number of reasons. To start with, snakes are wildlife and should therefore not be kept as pets but live in their natural habitat.

This is especially significant when it comes to snakes, as these animals are severely restricted in their movements since they are generally kept in small terrariums for the sheer pleasure of humans to simply look at them.

These snakes were also not kept/ displayed in appropriate housing. One of the most important issues when it comes to keeping reptiles is thermoregulation. There was no sign of any effort whatsoever to ensure that the snakes had an area with a heat lamp to warm themselves.

Proper thermoregulation is essential for the health of these animals and in ensuring ideal digestion and immune functions. Also, there were no proper hiding places for these snakes where they could get some privacy away from the constant staring of shoppers. This will cause great stress to the animals.

Moreover, by selling these animals in a huge, mainstream supermarket, there is the risk that the demand for these animals will increase.

Finally, if these animal rights and environmental motives are not enough to convince certain groups, I'm sure the following reason will convince them.

Snakes can carry the Salmonella bacteria, which can cause illnesses and even death in humans. The netting on top of the terrariums in Carrefour is thin and a curious child could easily contract the Salmonella Bacteria and might even spread it to other parts of the supermarket (i.e. fruits section, chicken, etc.).

I think that the possible and unhindered spread of the Salmonella bacteria in a big, busy supermarket is a public health issue that should be dealt with accordingly by the responsible authorities.