Three ex-employees of SeaQuest Fort Worth are blowing the whistle on the troubled animal aquarium at Ridgmar Mall.
According to a release, the employees have signed statements attesting to the fact that dozens of fish have died at the facility under inhumane conditions, including "horrific and prolonged animal suffering" and neglect — resulting in the death of two nurse sharks. (A nurse shark is a nocturnal animal that, in the wild, dwells on sandy bottoms and rock crevices during the day.)
The two sharks, named Icarus and Achilles, had been held in a tank too small for them and with poor water quality. The stress of their confinement affected them so severely that they stopped eating and died in May and June.
Icarus, Achilles, another shark named Zeus, two blacktip reef sharks, and seven eels were all crammed into a 10,000-gallon tank—a size suitable for just one nurse shark.
Achilles in his tank at SeaQuest Fort Worth.
PETA
It was also reported that dozens of fish that were transported in black trash bags in the back of a U-Haul truck from Littleton, Colorado, to Fort Worth perished during the journey. According to the employees' statements, the bags were so small that the fish’s “bodies were curved.” Of the approximately 50 fish sent on that journey, 42 died, and only eight survived.
“Fish were sent on a death drive—and a pair of sharks were apparently so stressed that they stopped eating before they died in one of SeaQuest’s miserable tanks,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Michelle Sinnott.
“Animals are in danger at this shady shopping mall operation, and PETA is urging the district attorney to act quickly before another life is snuffed out at SeaQuest Fort Worth," Sinnott says.
PETA has contacted Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells urging him to investigate SeaQuest Fort Worth, and file relevant cruelty-to-animals charges — following up from their recnet announcement calling for SeaQuest CEO Vince Covino to quit and be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Aaron Neilsen.
PETA’s complaint also shares other allegations including:
- several koi fish died at SeaQuest Fort Worth after a filtration pump failure caused ammonia levels to spike in their tank
- several gourami fish died after being dumped into a tank that was too cold
- a blacktip reef shark with a curved spine was still confined to a tank small enough to have most likely caused the condition
Hundreds of animals have died at SeaQuest facilities or in transit, and the United States Department of Agriculture has issued numerous citations for inadequate animal care, improper maintenance, and at least four incidents in which visitors were bitten or wounded at the facility.
In addition to its Littleton location, SeaQuest has closed facilities in Trumbull, Connecticut, and Stonecrest, Georgia, following pressure from PETA and a slew of egregious animal welfare issues and customer injuries.
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