Man Poisons LFS Tanks, Kills $8,000 of Livestock!

geemanaz

AZ FRAG Club Member
This may be the most disgusting hobbyist story I've read in a long while. A man walks into Underwater World in Helena, Montana (not to be confused with the wholesaler in Los Angeles) and sprinkles a mysterious white powder into their holding tanks, killing 70 fishes, corals, and inverts.

image_large

According to the Helena Independent Record, a man enters Underwater World and engages in a friendly conversation with shop owner, Bob Kavajecz. Later, while Kavajecz was tending to other business, surveillance video catches the man sprinkling a mysterious powder into several tanks, then exits the shop without saying goodbye to Kavajecz. Shortly after, Kavajecz notices mass mortality in his holding tanks.

"This guy was throwing it in and watching to see if they were dying yet"
Kavajecz believes the chemical may have been dry chlorine bleach. "œThis guy was throwing it in and watching to see if they were dying yet," he said. ""œWhen you see it, it is sickening. I can hardly watch it without crying."

If you have any information about the man shown in the video snapshot above, please contact Helena police at 406-442-3233 or leave an anonymous tip via Crimestoppers by calling 406-443-2000 or visiting www.helenacs.com. Please "like" or "send" or tweet this to get the word out. Let's serve justice to this pitiful excuse for a human being.

Posted By Leonard Ho at advancedaquarist.com
 
Wow there are always all types in all hobbies and in all walks of life. I hope they catch this guy and make him pay financially for what he did.
 
That is terrible. Hopefully they can catch the man and he can pay for all the damages. You never know what type of person you are going to come into contact with on a daily basis or what's on their mind.
 
I'm utterly horrified. Let's hope there aren't any copycats. Hopefully there's a good chance of catching the perp since he's on video.

Not to be crass, but I wonder if insurance would cover some of the losses from this pointless crime.
 
Yeah, i hope they catch him. Here in Cleveland, we are dealing with some body going around putting copper washers into tanks. People like that need to be infront of a firing squad!
 
Stories like these bring tears to my eyes, not only for the innocent animals who suffer, but for the pet owners too. Very sad that a human being would want to do such a thing.
 
Why would someone do this?! I mean really what could possibly be the motive here? I first thought it might be a PO'd customer that got a bad deal but it doesn't even sound like this guy had been in the store before.

Just a horrible story.
 
Why would someone do this?!

The same reason they topple bus benches, destroy park facilities etc etc

what is real disturbing are the copper attacks, marine knowledge is needed to know it kills
 
The only thing I can think of is a buddy of his probably bought a fish there, killed it and wanted his money back. When the owner of the store refused they went after his livestock to teach him a lesson. I'd like to get hold of the punk that did this and inflict some damage to his face. JMO.
 
While I find this kind of thing totally disgusting, let's not have anymore posts like the one I just edited.

I don't want to see any posts that suggest illegal retaliation!
 
That's why we have people like this due to a Punch in the nose being Frowned upon! If it were me he would get much worse than that!
Bill
 
I know it may be difficult at first, but why don't LFS put covers on their tanks to help prevent attacks like this? this person could very well be his 'local' competition...
 
I cant' believe there is another incident like this! what are they thinking?! how can you do something to creatures that are so utterly beautiful? I hope they catch him and he goes away for a long time. Do they consider that animal cruelty in that state?
 
Do they consider that animal cruelty in that state?

they should, so sad that some people don't view coral as animals....

I'll agree it's tragic and a complete disgrace, but do we really want the state to consider fish and/or corals as animals? How long before we would need a license? And what would happen after a tank crash? Would you be held liable under cruelty laws?

I think I prefer destruction of property, criminal mischief, whatever they call this type of thing now.
 
They are animals, why shouldn't they be considered as such? They should be protected by the same animal welfare laws as any other pet.

I think you are confusing this with the guardianship vs ownership debate. Dogs and cats are considered animals yet we own them, so they are considered our property. If we were to become legal guardians of our animals, this would give the animals their own rights in court and open up huge issues that would not work in the favor of the animal or the owner. For example, you could lose the right to euthanize your pet even if it is terminally ill. More information here: http://www.avma.org/advocacy/state/issues/ownership.asp
 
Back
Top