Rocky the Snakehead: Fish with a death sentence

Don't know if anyone has already posted this, but:


Public outrage halts state's execution of Clay man's pet fish

by Tom Leo / The Post-Standard Thursday February 26, 2009, 4:44 PM


Li-Hua Lan/The Post-StandardChris Deverso, of Clay, has owned this giant snakehead for 10 years.
Update, 11:50 a.m.: "Rocky'' gets a reprieve, at least temporarily.
DEC officials said today they will not pick up Chris Deverso's 10-year-old pet snakehead fish today, as originally planned.
"We kind of wanted to do this low key,'' DEC Lt. Don Pleakis said. "The word of protesters and news crews kind of changed the scenario for us, so we're going to just pull back and look at all the options.''
Pleakis said he wasn't sure when the DEC would take the fish and kill it.
"Chris still has to give up the fish; he knows that,'' Pleakis said. "But for me to go over there today . . . it's not just a good situation.''
Pleakis said he understands what Deverso is going through.
"I understand this has been his pet,'' Pleakis said. "He's called the senators, he's called the legislators. There's just no wiggle room. This has gone all the way to the commissioner's office. It's been debated. It's a decision we've got to live with, and a decision Chris has to live with.''
Pleakis said all the publicity from the case may turn out to be a good thing.
"The word of this case is getting out all over the place,'' he said. "Maybe somebody reads something and he does find the fish a home. That's still not off the table.''
Previous story:
Clay, NY -- Time has run out for a Clay man's pet snakehead fish.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation today rejected appeals from the banned fish's owner to spare the 10-year-old, 28-inch-long giant snakehead.
Chris Deverso, the fish's owner, said DEC officers will pick up the fish today.
"I've done everything I can possibly do," he said. "They're going to kill my fish."
Snakeheads have been illegal to own in the United States since 2004. Deverso purchased the fish he calls Rocky legally in 1999, before the ban.
The invasive species, originally from Asia, has a voracious appetite, often consuming all other fish in a lake or pond, and even eating its young. It can also slither across land, staying out of water for up to three days, to find new sources of food.
Deverso has been trying to convince the state his fish is not a threat to Central New York waterways.
His main argument: His type of snakehead can't survive in our cold climate. He's also found one state, Maryland, that amended its law to allow people to own snakehead like his and others that would die in cold water.
"The DEC says it doesn't have the power to give me a permit to keep the fish," he said. "A state senator couldn't help. It's not like I can call (President) Obama and ask him to give my fish a pardon."
DEC Region 7 Capt. Woody Erickson said Wednesday that after reviewing the case, the DEC determined the ban on snakeheads does not distinguish among the different species.
"It'd be very difficult for the department to distinguish these species of fish and which can and can't be kept," Erickson said. "This has risen to the highest levels of the DEC."
DEC officers are working with the owner to determine a time that's convenient to pick up the fish. "We're sensitive to the situation. This fish was a pet," he said.
The fish will be taken to a DEC facility and placed in a walk-in freezer, Erickson said. The fish's metabolism will slow and it will die.
The fish will be frozen because the owner wants to consider sending it to a taxidermist, he said.
Deverso earlier this month pleaded guilty in Clay town court to possessing an illegal fish. He met Tuesday with DEC Region 7 Director Ken Lynch and Erickson. The meeting was arranged by Sen. John DeFrancisco.
He showed them documents that his fish is a subtropical fish that can't live in cold water. He also showed them the Maryland law that bans only two of the 29 species of snakeheads -- northern and blotted snakeheads -- because they're the only two that can survive in cold water.
Deverso has contacted zoos and aquariums, including the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park in Syracuse. No one local is willing to take the fish.
Now, he's just waiting for the DEC to take the fish.
"It's really sad," Deverso said. "There's no reason this fish has to be killed."
Contact Tom Leo at tleo@syracuse.com or 470-6013.


There's a petition going around (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-chriss-pet-snakehead-fish) to let them know that people want Rocky to live. If any of you could sign it, it would be really helpful. So far, the DEC went to his home last week to confiscate and euthanize him, but there were so many supporters and reporters outside that they decided to come back another day. There is still hope and time to save Rocky.

Links in support of Rocky and his owner:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-chriss-pet-snakehead-fish
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57954035727&ref=nf
http://www.myspace.com/letrockylive
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185155
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220909&highlight=rocky

Rocky looks as if he could use a much larger aquarium.
Chip

I had been following this story since before it posted here due to fellow caudata member bellacornuta who seems to be a personal friend of the guy who owns the fish.

ANYWAY - I was reading the article - again - and they say they intend to euthanise the fish by freezing it.

Isn't that the wrong way to do it? Do we have any experts here who can vouch for that with an education behind them to be official?

Ray? John? Anyone? The law will do as the law dictates but should they do it the right way?

This is the reporter with the latest update and his contact information: Contact Tom Leo at tleo@syracuse.com or 470-6013

This is the NY DEC site for contact...http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/259.html

But the article says Capt. Woody Erickson is in charge this is Region 7 contact info...
Region 7 Program Contact Information
615 Erie Blvd. West
Syracuse, NY 13204-2400
reg7info@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins counties

Capt. Woody Erickson info
New York State ECO Roster for Region 7
Captain Woody Erickson
615 Erie Boulevard West
Syracuse, NY 13204-2400
Phone: (315) 426-7431, Fax: (315) 426-7417

I just BARELY managed to refrain from becoming a coffee fountain over my laptop reading this guys article...

http://www.syracuse.com/kramer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1235815060233780.xml&coll=1

Rocky the snakehead has feelings, too
Monday, March 02, 2009
JEFF KRAMER
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST
This morning Rocky the snakehead is still swimming in his 200-gallon tank in Chris Deverso's kitchen, or he's a fish Popsicle.

However the weekend went for Rocky, we're left with a distinctly fishy odor from the state Department of Environmental Confusion, whose trained bureaucrats know a major bio-threat when they find one in their code book.

DEC officials had planned to apprehend and cryo-euthanize the illegal fish last Thursday. They backed off when the threat of bad publicity posed by assembled news crews at Deverso's home in Clay apparently proved more daunting to the department than its paranoid scenario that this family pet of 10 years might somehow escape its aquarium and stomp through the countryside devouring local fish stocks, cattle, even Wegmans pizza.

Never mind that Deverso purchased the fish legally well before the state snakehead ban took effect in 2004.

Never mind that this species of subtropical snakehead cannot survive an Upstate winter (or fall or spring, for that matter.) Rules are rules, right?

What a perfect refrain for the chronically lazy. I should invoke it more often myself - not that a whole lot of mental effort is required in this case.

Rocky could be implanted with a microchip, so he could be swiftly recovered in the almost unfathomable event of his escape.

DEC officials could set up a webcam to monitor the fish 24/7 if they're so worried.

Rocky could serve as a teaching tool at a DEC facility. Or his execution date could be pushed to say, 2020, so Rocky could live out his limited days in peace.

But why not just kill the thing? It's so much easier.

In California, my former home, state wildlife officials were going to destroy a brown bear that had fallen into the habit of rollicking in a backyard hot tub. A public outcry resulted in a stay of execution by the governor. A small zoo in Orange County accepted the bear. Money was raised for an enclosure that included a waterfall and a pool.

The bear became the zoo's star, and the story became a children's book, "Samson the Hot Tub Bear." It's one of my kids' favorites. Somehow I doubt they'd love it as much if it were called "Samson the Hot Tub Corpse."

It strikes me that maybe I'm sensitive to this issue because, like Rocky, I, too, am an invasive, non-indigenous species with a voracious appetite. And I know what it's like to be netted, bagged and dispatched to a deep freeze. How do you think I ended up in Central New York?

My point is that fish have feelings. Or at least their owners do.

"Some people think a fish isn't a pet, but he's something you have to take care of," Chris told me as Rocky, dark from all the stress, glowered in the background. "Ten years is a long time."

When I was 10, our family acquired a goldfish and named him Fred. I was 34 when Fred finally expired. Sometimes, like now, I think about him. He was slimy and boring, but I've had worse friends.

Jeff Kramer's humor column runs Mondays in CNY. Reach him at jeffmkramer@gmail.com.

That says it well! I hope the guy ends up OK. And I've read that it's cruel to freeze ('cryo-euthanize,' I have to remember that one) both snakes and sals as a form of euthanasia.

I will be the first to agree that many wildlife laws are based on loose reasoning at best, however snakeheads are reproducing in VA so I do think that it may be possible, however unlikely, for the same thing to happen in NY. A population of snakeheads would be catastrophic to non-native environment so I agree with these laws. I did not read the whole story to see how the wildlife officials ever even discovered Rocky, however his owner should have been keeping a low profile if he did not want to draw attention to his pet. Again I think that fish is being kept in a cramped space and IMHO this borders on animal cruelty.
Chip

Well personally i'd like to see the fish saved but if the DEC is going seize & euthanise it I just think it should be done properly and not cruelly.

From what I've been able to gather from pet sites is that like our caudates an anesthetic overdose is the proper way to euth a fish.

I just thought maybe someone with a good educational background could inform the DEC or the two reporters who seem to have an interest in this story about the cruel method the DEC intends to employ.

As for the pet, it could use a bigger tank. These things tend to get away from us when we aren't paying attention. Maybe the man just needs a reminder. BUT with the life of the pet hanging in the balance I think its a moot point. However I did get his owners' personal contact information and I'll mention a larger tank, indoor pond as an opportune moment arrives.

And the legality.... by all means we should follow the laws. I don't want this man to circumvent the laws but this law is punishing ethical pet owners as well as the morons who toss their pets into the wild to fend for themselves.

How much more damage does a wild snakehead fish do than the thousands of pet cats turned outdoors to fend for themselves? The feral dogs? Are they next to be outlawed? Probably not because they have cute & endearing faces. And I THINK that overall most cat & dog owners would rather not pitch their pets into the wild.

I would never do that. Even if AZ passed a law tomorrow saying it was going seize & destroy any pet cats found. I'd move. yeah yeah thats unlikely - its just an example.

It was mentioned on one board that originally the person who bought a pair of snakeheads and released into a pond NEVER faced any prosecution? Seriously? But they've hunted this guy down and intend to kill his pet? For 10 years he's done the responsible thing. But now he must be punished.

He probably brought this on himself. Either bringing people he couldn't trust into his home or like some others bragging about the illegalities he's perpetrating on some message board. AND regardless of my wishes for the fish and his owner, I just think that if they are going to seize the fish and euth it they should do it the proper way.

sorry for my own inane babbling....

Do not worry about the inane babbling... I am enjoying this conversation. I agree with you 100% regarding the feral cats and dogs. The cats especially destroy so much native wildlife. We have two geriatric dogs and five cats (I told my wife that we are bordering on being crazy cat people) however if I could snap my fingers and magically make every feral cat and dog turn to dust I would do it in a heartbeat. I also agree that the tank size is a moot point and at this stage he has most likely heard this criticism several times over. It just makes me sad to see large fish and herps kept by private individuals under improper conditions.
Chip

As for the tank size, some people have already said that because he looked like his back was hunched in some photos, and then in others he is perfectly straight. I'd say in order to make a judgement one would have to measure the tank length, as pictures and gallons aren't accurate for sizing a tank. Pictures for the obvious perspective reasons and gallons because any gallon size can be made with differing lengths or heights for example, 20g high vs. 20g long. Same volume, different sizes. As it is, he is in a 200g tank and he is 28" long.

Chris got caught because a friend or someone who had been in his home tipped the DEC off. No one knows who it was. He didn't even know they were illegal to own, just thought they were illegal to import/export, and obviously the major selling point is that he's had it since 5 years BEFORE the laws were passed.

He's selling t-shirts, funds of which are going to help animals in need, regardless of the outcome of this situation. On another forum (http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com) he's encouraged people to e-mail him with any rocky questions and of course questions/orders for t-shirts. cdeverso@yahoo.com. He's been keeping us all updated on the MFK thread almost daily. So far so good. I for one am hoping that Rocky will be given a pardom. It seems wrong in so many ways. As keepers of many different types of animals, I'm sure you can all understand the fear that what is legal today may become illegal in the future and we will all be hiding or handing over our pets to the freezer =( (Which by the way is also considered inhumane amongst aquarists. We prefer the alcohol method too)

:evil: The problem is, Snakehead is soooo tasty. I had one years and years ago purchased at my local Asian fishmonger live. Once I found out they were aggressive and carnivorous, I had to buy another as a pet. This went well untill my mother found it cruising the family room one evening...

While they are now encroaching on native species and illegal to own as pets in most places, I think we should round up all the captive ones and feed puppy and kitten mill owners to them.

To give this fellow fair credit he obviously cares about his pet because a 200 gallon tank is no small investment. Still though, it is not a lot of swimming room for such a large fish. I liken it to keeping a zebra danio in a small jar. Anyway, I do feel bad for his situation. It is too bad that a public aquarium cannot take the fish, even though it is my understanding that they are often flooded with requests to take unwanted fish.
Chip

@Monkey: Quite a few people have already suggested that he cook Rocky and eat him up to get the last laugh at the DEC.

@Foster: I'd like to see a fish like that at an aquarium. Not to mention, with all the fame and publicity Rocky has gathered so far, people would flock from all over to be able to see him up close in an exhibit. They say it would be too expensive to care for him (estimated at 4k/year), but I think they could easily make that. As for the tank size, it's not gonna matter much anyway, because either they find him a new home, or he gets the freezer treatment.

The problem with the cost of upkeep is legitimate. A friend of mine takes in some of the confiscated animals the state seizes. Everything from bears to panthers to monkeys. He gets money from the govt but it helps not completely funds the upkeep.

I've suggested to him a few times to have people "adopt" the animals. If people paid $10 or $20 month to adopt an animal - it helps.

Larger zoos do this. People get to have their name on a plaque saying they support this animal and saving the rainforest. Tucson zoo has a rainforest meter. You put in a quarter and save a square foot of rainforest. Zoos could do the same for some exhibits. People don't go to zoos to see caiman, but they're happy to watch anyway, they are there to see lions & tigers & bears - oh my! and the monkeys. But if you put two or three coin fed "treat" dispensers near an exhibit, the 25 cent dispenser puts out common food, a moderate treat, the 50 cent dispenser has something a bit more tasty in it to encourage them to come closer for pictures.

I have no idea how much a giraffe or ostrich eats, but if they measured the amount of feed that went into the feeders and what was left, if anything, at the end of the day they could easily adjust the animals' regular feedings.

Tucson zoo has a daily "feed the giraffes" session. For a couple of dollars a docent or keeper will let you feed them some feed/treats. You better believe we got in line for it.

My kids LOVE seeing the little meter go up on the "save the rainforest" thing. This zoo gets money for us every time we take a turn on their paths.

The squished pennies thing annoys me. But the coloring posters for 50cents are awesome. And my kids get it all.

I buy the 3D magnets. I love those things.

Zoos can support their animals. They just need to be smarter about it. Jacking up their entry rates isn't the answer, people will just go less often.

I have completely quit going to new release movies. The last time I took ONE child to a matinee, we shared a large popcorn, got 2 bottles of water and 1 box of candy each = $35. wth???

We buy one older dvd or a new release on sale 3 times a month and a new release once a month instead. Totally in response to movie theatres getting stupid on their rates.

So there are options for rocky the snakehead fish and that other zoo that may be 'laying off' some of its animals.

I hope they can all afford to implement new ideas before they start closing their doors.

Aquariums have no shortages of people, believe me. I got an aquarium membership recently for the New England Aquarium and we went during the weekend, packed of course because school was out. Couldn't get close enough to any of the exhibits for a good look until the last few minutes before closing time. We went again, during a school/work day. Same deal. There were a few less people, but it was still a struggle to get close and people with kids are RUDE using their kids to push them in front and get closer to the exhibit, then parking it there and not letting anyone else have a turn. When I have kids, I'm going to teach them good manners and sharing.

I agree that they should find more creative ways to get money. Membership is a great way to do that. For an affordable rate (depending on the amount of guests you need to bring) you get unlimited access. Pays for it's self in a few visits. I like your idea about the food, zoos around here used to have those feed dispensers for like the deer and stuff but not anymore. That's great incentive to give up your money though!

The whole '$4,000' estimate seems a bit of a stretch, I think they just don't want to get on the bad side of the government and lose any funding they might be receiving, although there are aquariums in other states that have offered to take Rocky. New York is just being dumb. It's sad really.

ny an ca run by idiots who can't think for themselves & take the word of prejudiced and ill informed idiots leading to..... gasp!!! it can't be!!! scandal and bankruptcy???

california is a beautiful state but I can hardly bring myself to visit there because I get the feeling they're about to start conscription for thier non-paying govt positions....

Hmm, quite disturbing, but given the USA's immense problem with invasive speices i can understand why they are going to such extreme measures with this incident, how ever, theres always more than one option and im pretty sure this isnt the most healthy of options.

What's quite disturbing to me is the US governments' complete hypocrisy with snakeheads, when it encourages the commercial fishing for exotic invasive species like rainbow trout, largemouth bass, etc. Or it outright stocks the invasives itself...

People are freaked out about exotic snakeheads in the Potomac, but not enough people are outraged that such popular fish as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, bluegill, channel catfish, etc. are also exotic introductions to the Potomac system. But apparently the snakehead crosses some invisible line that the others don't!

And let me tell you, that line isn't drawn in ecology. Economics maybe...

Agreed with Nate. As long as the government introduces it it is fine(well...except perhaps for carp, but it is seldom mentioned it was stocked by govt agency to become a truly great sportfish).

This post reminds me how US game fish stocked into Lake Titikaka made some unique guys go extinct. I have always been puzzled by the hypocracy with endangered animals and exotic/invasvies here. i live on Lake Michigan and I dont even want to start on that subject of fish here and exotics...Stocking Salmon to eat the alewives is a start. The reason is that 'by selling of game fishging permits we can get more funds to save xxx endangered fish. Anyways, we have Lake Trout bursting from the seams in Yellowstone where game fishing introduced them, where as in the Great Lakes they are low, very low. Don't forget about the BlueGill Problem in Japan!

There is a snakefish at the Aquarium in Chicago, and he is a joy to feed, begs like a puppy. People see him and i always hear them talk about the "frankenfish" incident a few years back. He is part of invasive specie exhibit next to some gobies and Asian carp. See, aquariums and zoos can benefit from these guys by building an invasive section and educating the public. They get a first hand look at what an Asian Carp look like (pretty big) and snakeheads.

Just a note, United States has more endangered fish than anywhere else. Of all the endangered animals in the United States, most that are endangered are fish. No one really seems to care since you can't "hug a fish" ( I can beg to differ). A lot of these fish are endangered because of dam building and introduction of game fish and some pollution.

i kinda feel bad for the guy, its like he had a pitbull for 10 years and the town banned them, then tried to euth his. i don't think he had any intention on releasing it, plus there are many differnt species of snake head, some not even described by science yet. And freezing it? Come on.Now if this was Florida, i might think a little differnt...

Haha, that's a good point. Freezing a fish that would freeze in the winter anyway if released. What a dumb idea. Waste of resources etc. Anyway, latest Rocky news (as of April 3rd):

"
well just like that another denial parrot rescue cannot house rocky they say because of the federal transport law its to difficult and say they cannot follow through ,so looks like come monday i will be hard pressed on the lawyer thing try and find the best deal i can and just simply fight to be grandfathered in I WILL NOT GIVE UP JUST BECAUSE NOBODY IS WILLING TO TAKE HIM IN ..i will continue to fight this WIN and build rocky a bigger tank ,,thanks"

All bias one way or the other aside, I think everyone can agree he's a pretty great pet owner. Anyone else would just be sad but let it happen. He's taking the money and energy to have the little guy saved.

There's a new bill coming up that would make ALL exotic animals illegal to own. Fish or otherwise. Interesting to see what happens. I don't think it will pass, but if it does, there will be hell for the government. My fish and tortoise are the things that I wake up for in the morning and they're what keeps me going. I'll be damned if anyone even tries to take them from me. And I'm sure there are many other enthusiastic creature keepers out there who feel the same way.