For Fish Amnesty Day, Stingray’s Appeal to Shun Mall Aquariums Goes Up Near SeaQuest
For Immediate Release:
September 26, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Coming on the heels of the release of a new federal inspection report documenting rampant filth at SeaQuest Fort Worth—and whistleblower reports from three former employees revealing a slew of animal welfare issues, including that dozens of fish, including two sharks, recently died at or in transport to the seedy facility and that horrific and prolonged animal suffering and neglect are par for the course there—PETA is targeting the mall aquarium for Fish Amnesty Day on Saturday. The group is erecting two unmissable sky-high pleas minutes away from SeaQuest Fort Worth warning people to stay away from mall aquariums. The recently released reports document just the latest among the many violations of federal law that have plagued the location—and all other SeaQuest facilities—since its inception.
“Filth, neglect, and death are rife at SeaQuest, where marine animals are crammed into severely crowded enclosures and their suffering is ignored,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Michelle Sinnott. “PETA urges everyone to stay away from SeaQuest and all other mall aquariums as if lives depend on it—because they do.”
PETA’s first billboard is located at 3525 Alta Mere Dr. The second billboard on Alta Mere Drive, just south of Slocum Avenue, goes up on Monday.
SeaQuest Fort Worth has a long and sordid history of animal neglect and death, and the chain’s locations across the U.S. have racked up over 90 citations in the past six years alone for failing to meet bare-minimum federal animal welfare standards. A just-released federal inspection report reveals that the facility racked up yet another citation in August—this time for a duck enclosure that was covered in feces and old food waste—and an employee admitted that they didn’t know when it had last been cleaned. In 2022, the location was cited following the deaths of five sugar gliders who had fallen into a vertical pipe from which they couldn’t escape. At the same facility, an otter died, capybaras have gone missing, an adult capybara bit a child, and a sloth bit a customer.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—introduced Fish Amnesty Day in 1997 to encourage kindness to fish, who feel pain, have long memories, sing to each other, share knowledge, and have cultural traditions. PETA 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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
