SeaQuest Folsom Cited Over Parakeet Death and Other Damning Violations

Update (September 26, 2024): A parakeet died after getting caught in a door at SeaQuest Folsom, as revealed in a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report. The mall aquarium dump was hit with a critical citation—reserved for some of the worst kinds of animal welfare violations—over the incident.

This parakeet’s death follows a string of similar injuries and deaths at SeaQuest operations, where customers have reportedly stepped on and crushed birds.

Federal officials also cited SeaQuest Folsom for the presence of flies—a citation the facility has already received repeatedly. Its other previous federal citations were for confining animals to enclosures that pose health and injury risks, failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care, and failing to keep adequate records of the animals it exploits. Across the locations of this national chain, hundreds of animals have died and the USDA has issued numerous citations for inadequate animal care, improper maintenance, and injuries to the public.

Keep reading to learn how SeaQuest Folsom has repeatedly failed animals.

Update (November 10, 2023): The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspected the SeaQuest location in Folsom, California, in June and September 2023 and cited the tourist trap for more violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

On June 28, the feds cited SeaQuest Folsom for an abundance of flies in the capybara enclosure, which an inspector noted “can transmit disease and can be irritating to the animals.”

On September 25, the USDA again cited the facility, this time for the following:

• Acquiring 71 birds from undocumented sources, despite the requirement that “[c]omplete and accurate animal records must be kept in order to facilitate tracing of animals in the event of an animal disease outbreak”
• Storing chemicals used for cleaning near bird-food preparation areas, which is a “potential risk to the health and welfare of the animals”
• An open electrical socket in the kookaburra enclosure, which “could cause potential harm to the bird”

SeaQuest Folsom continues to fail animals, putting them at risk of injury or death. USDA inspectors have also noted that there were excessive flies throughout the facility. Previous citations have been for confining animals to enclosures that put their health and safety at risk and for failing to maintain records of the animals, among other issues. Despite its growing pile of citations, this operation is apparently unable or unwilling to provide the animals kept there with the bare-minimum care required by law.

PETA will keep monitoring this shady facility, alerting the USDA to its inadequate conditions, and urging you to help the living, feeling individuals cruelly exploited at SeaQuest’s locations.

Originally published on June 23, 2023:
A just-released inspection report shows that SeaQuest was cited again by the USDA for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act. On May 1, the USDA inspected SeaQuest Folsom, in California, and found it to be jeopardizing the health and welfare of sloths by failing to provide the correct temperature and humidity in their enclosures. These conditions were also below healthy ranges two weeks before the inspection, according to SeaQuest’s logs.

A drop in temperature and humidity can be deadly for sloths, disrupting their digestion and causing them to starve. And this is far from the first time SeaQuest has failed them: This year, a whistleblower from the SeaQuest in Trumbull, Connecticut, reported that a sloth had fallen to the floor after his nails broke off, likely because they had become dry, cracked, and weakened due to dehydration and an insufficiently humid environment.

In July 2020, a 1-year-old sloth named Flash died at SeaQuest Las Vegas. He was thin when he died and had a history of weakness, twitching, and lack of appetite. Just nine months later, in April 2021, another sloth (also named Flash) died under similar circumstances at the same facility.

SeaQuest Profits While Animals Suffer

Animal suffering appears to be of little concern to the infamous Vince Covino, owner of the SeaQuest chain. While he profits, his businesses regularly rack up USDA citations—SeaQuest was recently slapped with a $4,500 fine over numerous cases in which animals bit members of the public at multiple locations and an incident in which a door crushed a flying squirrel to death.

The recent animal welfare failures of SeaQuest Folsom are just the latest in a years-long pattern of neglect by the facility that has resulted in a string of USDA citations. Incidents include failing to maintain the safety and sanitation of the Bengal cat enclosure, failing to keep adequate records of the animals, and having excessive flies throughout the facility, which poses a risk of disease to the animals.

SeaQuest’s other facilities across the country are no better: Hundreds of animals have died there, and the USDA has issued numerous citations for inadequate animal care, improper maintenance, and injuries to the public. Animals are in danger every minute they’re imprisoned at SeaQuest and at the mercy of animal exploiters who fail to give them even the most basic care. Steer clear of this seedy chain, where animals suffer for the sake of human entertainment and the only thing that runs wild is neglect.

Help Animals at SeaQuest

Never visit roadside zoos or aquariums, and never participate in encounters with animals used for entertainment. SeaQuest facilities are plagued by animal welfare issues, animal deaths, legal violations, and injuries to employees and the public from direct contact with animals. Please take a series of rapid actions for the animals trapped at SeaQuest. Contact the Covinos directly to ask that they stop exploiting animals, and contact SeaQuest’s promoters to request that they stop supporting animal exploitation immediately: