Pet shop blaze deliberately set, fire officials say

A fire that killed more than two-dozen exotic snakes, frogs, fish, and other reptiles in a Cambridge pet shop Wednesday night was deliberately set, perhaps by the person who spray-painted the message ``No more exploitation of animals" on the store front, fire officials said yesterday.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said that investigators were not focusing on any single motive for the blaze, which apparently started on the second floor of the Boston Tropical Fish and Reptiles building on Monsignor O'Brien Highway around 9:45 p.m. and sent animals slithering and scurrying from the flames and heat.

Referring to the note sprayed on the front of the store, Coan said: ``The investigation team is not ruling out the graffiti. We're looking at a number of potential scenarios."

Store owner Dianne San Filippo took offense at the message. ``One of our largest snakes was found melted in his tank," she said, standing outside her gutted store yesterday morning. ``Is that kind of death better than exploitation? I don't think so."

San Filippo said her manager had trouble with several people about two weeks ago. ``He had to tell a couple of people who came in to leave, after they started yelling at him and giving him a hard time about the feeder mice," she said, of the stock of mice the store keeps to feed some of the reptiles. ``I don't know if that has anything to do with the fire, if it's a coincidence."

Authorities said the fire appeared to have started on the second floor of the two-story building. It was put out at 10:33 p.m.

``This case is peculiar, because there is no evidence any animals were freed, which is certainly contradictory to that message," Cambridge Fire Captain Gerry Mahoney said. ``It's cause for alarm, because usually animal rights groups attempt to set the animals free."

Alan B. Borgal, a state humane officer with the Animal Rescue League of Boston, said a portion of the store that was untouched by flames appeared to be cluttered and unsanitary, in violation of state codes.

Borgal said 14 animals, mostly reptiles, and up to 75 fish were carried out of the fire alive. The number of fish that died was unknown; Borgal said those that survived were taken to an emergency hospital set up at a Petco store near the Cambridgeside Galleria. Rainforest Reptiles in Beverly took all the reptiles. The Animal Rescue League of Boston took the rats.