SeaQuest’s Permits Slated to Be Yanked After Thousands of Complaints, Dozens of Animal Deaths

For Immediate Release:
February 5, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA has just obtained documents revealing that on Friday, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection gave SeaQuest Woodbridge notice that it has begun the process of revoking its Exhibitor and Endangered Species permits. The location is now prohibited from transferring any animals regulated by the permits to other locations and from allowing dangerous and stressful hands-on public encounters with the animals. Once termination of the permits is complete, SeaQuest will be unable to exhibit the regulated animals and the State could seize the animals in question, potentially forcing the location to close—as SeaQuests in Fort Worth, Texas; Littleton, Colorado; Trumbull, Connecticut; and Stonecrest, Georgia did following PETA pressure.

The 15-page order cites more than 3,500 complaints against SeaQuest Woodbridge from members of the public and former employees, as well as a slew of violations of animal welfare regulations—including infectious disease running rampant through the facility, improper conditions in animals’ habitats that led to illnesses and deaths, animals crammed into enclosures that were far too small, sick animals apparently denied veterinary care, and animal escapes. New Jersey state records uncovered by PETA reveal that nearly 100 animals have died at SeaQuest Woodbridge in the past five years—including a baby sloth who died less than a month after arriving at the facility.

“Otters, sloths, lizards, and other animals held at SeaQuest Woodbridge will get a small measure of relief from being poked and harassed by the public, but they’re still suffering in SeaQuest’s filthy tanks and shoddy cages,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA urges SeaQuest to send the surviving animals to reputable facilities, and PETA encourages everyone to stay far away from this dangerous and incompetent hellhole.”

SeaQuest Holdings, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, reporting less than $1 million in assets but over $10 million in liabilities. In January, PETA lawyers filed a brief in The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho asking the Court to shut down SeaQuest’s outrageous attempt to use the welfare of the surviving animals in its possession as a bargaining chip to arrange an expedited sale of its business to a company insider for only $80,000. The insider has since revoked his sale offer.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.