SeaQuest in Fort Worth shuts down amid animal cruelty investigation
Dead sharks Icarus and Achilles in a tank at SeaQuest Fort Worth (PETA)
FORT WORTH, Texas - The SeaQuest Interactive Zoo and Aquarium inside Fort Worth’s Ridgemar Mall abruptly closed after being reported for possible animal cruelty.
The Fort Worth location now has a closed sign on its door. Its listing on Google is also set to "Permanently closed," and tickets are no longer available for purchase on the company’s website.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is taking credit for the closure, saying it recently filed an animal cruelty report with the Fort Worth Police Department.
The organization said three former employees came forward with accounts of dozens of dead fish, including two sharks.
PETA also claims the Fort Worth location had been cited under the federal Animal Welfare Act for an unsanitary duck enclosure and two guests that were bitten by animals.
Fort Worth PD confirmed it did open an animal cruelty investigation based on PETA’s complaints. However, the department realized it is not the appropriate agency to investigate.
The case was forwarded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which handles the inspection and regulation of aquariums and zoos, police said.
"Champagne corks are popping at PETA now that this blight on beautiful Fort Worth has finally stopped exploiting animals and endangering the public," PETA Foundation Associate Director Molly Johnson said in a statement. "The SeaQuest chain is a scourge, and PETA will continue to call out its dreadful and deadly petting zoos until every location follows suit and closes."
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The 82-foot-tall AquaDom aquarium was the biggest cylindrical tank in the world, and held about 1,500 tropical fish before the incident.
The Humane Society of the United States welcomed the news and urged Ridgemar Mall not to let another mall-based aquarium or petting zoo move into the space.
"We urge them to send all the animals neglected in their care to accredited sanctuaries, rather than to other SeaQuest locations or similar attractions. The horrific mall-based wild animal petting zoos are plagued with animal deaths, injured children and adults, and more than 100 federal Animal Welfare Act violations over the last five years, including most recently when customers were bitten by a sloth and Bengal cat during public interactions," Alex Gamez, the Texas director of the Humane Society, said in a statement.
SeaQuest has not yet responded to FOX 4’s requests for comment on the closure and investigation.
The company's longtime CEO, Vince Covino, resigned in August as locations in Colorado, Connecticut, and Georgia also closed.