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Crayfish at an Auckland restaurant were kept barely alive in "toxic" tanks, and could have given customers food poisoning if they were eaten.
And when authorities uncovered the mess, the restaurant owner led them on a chase through Parnell, taking with him the stressed and dying crayfish.
The SPCA said the two crayfish tanks at the Imperial Sichuan Restaurant in Parnell were "putrid".
Restaurant owner Yuegui 'David' Li last week pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to four charges under the Animal Rights Act and the Food Act. The Imperial Sichuan has since closed, but Li also owns the Takeaway Sichuan Restaurant in Newmarket. It does not keep crayfish.
The SPCA told the court the tank water at the Imperial Sichuan was so filthy, inspectors struggled to count the crustaceans. It said the tanks were overcrowded and the filtration system was inadequate.
Nik Hannam, senior aquarist from Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World said the water was 20 times dirtier than normal, and levels of ammonia and nitrate were off the scale.
Plastic containers full of ice floated in the smelly green water but the environment was still much warmer than the crayfish needed, SPCA inspector Vicki Border said. The water had not been changed or cleaned for two months.
"I have never seen it this bad before. We get a few calls about other places, there's been the odd few too many in a cage or a little bit of film on the tank, but nothing like this.
"They're living in toxic water, so they would have nasties. They could be a risk for salmonella and gastro bugs, food poisoning. Seafood is a risky thing if it's not fresh and cooked properly at the best of times."
A vet consulted by the SPCA said the animals would have been desperate for oxygen: "The desire to move out of such poor-quality water would have been great, one of life and death."
When SPCA inspectors saw the tanks last November, they gave the 43-year-old Te Atatu man a notice telling him to clean them by the next morning.
When they returned, the tanks had not been cleaned, but while the inspectors were preparing to remove them, Li hid the 39 sick crayfish in a cupboard at the back of his restaurant, which the SPCA did not have a warrant to search.
They waited outside for almost three hours - until builders working on the restaurant spotted Li loading the crayfish into the boot of his car.
Inspectors chased him through Parnell, on foot and in cars, until he had to stop at an intersection. The crayfish were strewn through the back of the station wagon, with broken legs and feelers. Two were dead when they arrived at Kelly Tarlton's and four more died that night.
After a week the animals were moved to Mahurangi Technical Institute for holding. An expert there told the SPCA more had died and the others were so sick that next time they moulted, they would all die.
They would be culled to prevent further suffering, Border said.
An Auckland City Council spokesperson said the council inspected the property on November 16 after receiving a complaint about the smell of the tank. "The contents of the aquarium smelt foul and the odour could be detected outside the premises," the Environmental Health Officers reported. The council alerted the SPCA.
Li pleaded guilty to charges of ill-treating the crayfish and failing to comply with an SPCA inspector's written notice.
He also pleaded guilty to charges laid by Auckland City Council of selling food that was unfit for human consumption and keeping it in an unhygienic container.
He was fined $2500 for ill-treatment ($1250 of which went to the SPCA), $840 in reparation, and $850 and $650 on the two council charges. He was also ordered to pay court costs. Li did not comment to the Herald on Sunday.
The council inspected Li's Newmarket takeaway in March and gave it a "D" grade. Li was told to thoroughly clean the premises and train staff in basic food hygiene.
