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CBS 4 (Boston, Massachusetts) 28 September 06 Firefighters Struggle With Snakes In Pet Shop Fire
Cambridge: Arson is suspected in a fire that gutted an exotic pet store in Cambridge late Wednesday night, killing dozens of animals.
Firefighters struggled with live and loose snakes while they put out the fire. Some were wrapped around their legs.
Snakes, turtles, lizards, and fish were all killed in the fire at the Boston Tropical Fish & Reptile on the Monsignor O'Brien Highway.
Chief Gerald Reardon said several animals were alive and crawling in the dark during the fire making it difficult for firefighters.
"We also don’t know in the dark and the smoke what species of snake is it," he said. "Is it a dangerous snake, a docile snake? That's unknown to us."
The arsonist left graffiti on walls inside and outside shop. One message outside said "No more exploitation of animals."
Lt. Allan Borgal of the Animal Rescue League said that was unusual.
"Animal activists don't kill animals and sort of terrorism type of stuff. I don't know whether that's just a ploy. That's for the state police, the state fire marshal's office, and the Cambridge fire department to make those decisions."
They were able to save several pets - including white rats used as snake food and some fish. Some of the animals might not survive though, because they were suffering from smoke inhalation.
Investigators have not been able to find the owner who, they say, has been cited in the past for health code violations.
Firefighters Struggle With Snakes In Pet Shop Fire

BOSTON HERALD (Massachusetts) 29 September 06 Pet store arson kills animals; rescued reptiles on brink (Laura Crimaldi)
At least 21 reptiles and 60 fish are dead and dozens more are fighting for their lives after an arson at a crowded Cambridge pet store on which the message “NO MORE Exploitation OF ANIMALS” had been spray-painted.
“The state fire marshal’s office is not at a point that we would definitely link the fire to the environmental terrorism motive,” said State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan, who confirmed that the fire at Boston Tropical Fish & Reptile on Wednesday night was arson.
Animal rights extremists in other cities have freed animals from pet stores and then set the shops ablaze, fire officials said. The FBI is monitoring the situation, a spokeswoman said. Store officials could not be reached.
Among the dead animals at the shop are three boa constrictors, two South American wood turtles, two California king snakes, two Mexican king snakes, three leopard geckos and three fat-tailed geckos, said Lt. Alan Borgal of the Animal Rescue League of Boston.
“It’s never a good sight where you see animals caught in a fire and can’t escape,” said Cambridge Animal Control Director Mark McCabe.
A nearby Petco is caring for surviving fish and rats, Borgal said. The rescued reptiles are being cared for by a Beverly herpetologist.
“Some of the reptiles have a poor prognosis,” Borgal said. “They’re concerned about smoke inhalation and the animals are very stressed.”
Pet store arson kills animals; rescued reptiles on brink

CAMBRIDGE CHRONICLE (Massachusetts) 06 October 06 Police: store manager torched pet shop (Erin Smith)
A store manager-turned-arsonist set fire to his exotic pet shop last week and masked the crime by making the blaze look like the work of an animal activist group, police said.
Thanh Trinh, 42, of Charlestown, was in the process of buying Boston Tropical Fish and Reptile when he intentionally set fire to the Cambridge shop with the help of Zachary Azzam, a 17-year-old Cambridge resident and Dennis Nickerson, 21, of Somerville, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.
Trinh, Azzam and Nickerson were arrested Friday afternoon and arraigned in Cambridge District Court. The three men were charged with willful burning of a building, malicious killing of animals, cruelty to animals, larceny over $250, and larceny from a building.
Trinh pled not guilty and was ordered held without bail, pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Oct. 13.
Nickerson and Azzam also pled not guilty and were ordered held on $1,000 bail.
If Nickerson and Azzam post bail, Cambridge District Court Judge Jonathan Brant also ordered the two to report to probation once a week, have no contact with co-defendants, stay away from the pet shop, abstain from alcohol, drugs and firearms and fire-producing materials and refrain from abusing animals.
Nickerson and Azzam are due back in court on Nov. 6 for a probable cause hearing.
The pet store at 243 Monsignor O’Brien Highway was gutted by several mysterious fires on Sept. 27 at about 9:50 p.m., killing some of the exotic pets inside. “No more exploitation of animals” was spray-painted in black outside the front door.
Police allege that Trinh vandalized the building to make it look appear that the fire was set by an animal activist group.
The Middlesex District Attorney’s office did not give a motive for the crime.
Police: store manager torched pet shop

Whoever was quoted as saying that "animal activists don't kill animals and do terrorist-type stuff" better wake up and smell the friggin' coffee! More and more, they ARE turning to violence and terrorism to get their points across, and most would rather see an animal killed than to know it's in the company of humans, in any capacity. A good case in point would be the PeTA employees in North Carolina obtaining healthy, adoptable puppies and kittens from shelters and vets, promising to find them new homes, and then killing them in the back of a van in the parking lot and tossing their bodies in supermarket dumpsters, under the claims that the animals MIGHT wind up being abused later, so they were "saving" them from future suffering at the hands of humans!

McKenzieS