An enormous 17ft-long python was caught next to a pond after feasting on a family's pet dog in Thailand.

The giant reptile was found by the property owner Netnarin Siriyanon, 40, while he was trimming the grass along the pond's banks in Chachoengsao province on September 28.

Since the animal, full from its hefty meal, lay unmoving, he reportedly mistook it for a log and almost cut it up but he was shocked when it suddenly started writhing.

He saw that its stomach bulged grotesquely after apparently having eaten a dog. He left it alone, thinking it would slither away on its own but it was still there the following day while digesting the canine.

Netnarin finally called snake wrangles who arrived at the scene to retrieve the incapacitated reptile.

They searched through the undergrowth, which was damp from overnight rains, and spotted the massive beast sleeping next to the water.

Weighed down by its distended belly, it was easily caught without issue. The volunteers hauled it onto their pickup truck and said they will be releasing it back into the wild.

Netnarin said: 'I nearly cut the python while I was cutting the grass. I thought it would leave on its own, but it stayed in the same place the next day.

'I think it had eaten a large dog. It was so stuffed it couldn't move, so I called the rescuers to help catch it.'

The reticulated python is found throughout Southeast Asia, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and even in cities, causing them to come into conflict with humans. The species is one of the world's largest snakes and can eat humans, cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.