When I was in a Sth African rep park, I was given a sizeable burmese to play with (around 8-9ft), and she was agitated! Then, all the park guys walked off to go do something else, and left me alone with the snake. I was lucky - when she did bite me, it was to my arm, and she sunk her teeth in and constricted, but only my arm, and I had her tail in my other hand. I had to walk around the park with a constricted python on my arm for awhile before I found a staff member, who proceed beat the snake to make it let go. I got the guy to stop with the beating, and found a tap and ran water over the snake's head for a few mins and she let go. I was lucky with the bite; clean, no stitches. But a good story!
The way they handled this was stupid, but I don't see how having dogs or horses on display to the public is any different than a snake - all about knowing the animal's temperament, supervision, and calculated risk.