Teen arrested after fish-killing incident at Defiance pet store

A Defiance teen was arrested Sunday evening following a fish-killing incident at a northside pet store.

The 17-year-old teen was charged early Sunday evening by Defiance police with delinquency by means of cruelty to animals.

The charge alleges that he killed a fish at Pet Supplies Plus, 1524 N. Clinton St. Police had relied on a witness statement as well as an in-store camera, according to a narrative provided by city police.

A store employee told police that the store “has had many past incidents where fish have been coming up dead or missing. The dead fish have been located throughout the store. .. She stated that someone had dumped cat litter into the fish tanks in the past as well. She advised that she placed a camera in the store due to this issue and that the juvenile offender was seen removing a fish from the fish tanks.”

A witness stated that she saw the 17-year-old kill the fish by jabbing his finger repeatedly into its gills.

According to a store sticker, the sale price for the fish was $9.98, the police narrative explained.

The teen admitted to killing the aforementioned fish, dumping cat litter into a tank and killing other fish, the narrative added.

The offender was advised by police that henceforth he would be prohibited from entering the Pet Supplies Plus property. He was released to his mother’s custody.