SeaQuest Struggles to Stay Afloat with Shady Insider Sale; PETA Out to Sink it in New Court Filing

For Immediate Release:
January 29, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Today, PETA lawyers filed a brief in The U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court, 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—despite owing millions to creditors.

Following a long and sordid history of animal neglect and death at its facilities, SeaQuest Holdings, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, reporting less than $1 million in assets but over $10 million in liabilities. The chain has since threatened that if the proposed bargain-basement sale to the insider does not occur by the end of February, the welfare of several animals will be in jeopardy—a situation SeaQuest itself created, as the Acting United States Trustee accurately pointed out in a motion to convert the case to Chapter 7 and liquidate its assets.

PETA’s legal brief, filed in support of the Acting United States Trustee’s motion and in opposition to SeaQuest’s motion to sell its property, notes that the proposed sale to an insider with no experience in animal care will do nothing to protect the animals’ welfare—which will remain in danger for as long as SeaQuest remains in business. PETA’s brief asks the Court to order a timely public auction of SeaQuest’s remaining assets, which would allow concerned entities the chance to step in and give surviving animals their best shot at receiving the care they need at reputable facilities.

“SeaQuest invoking the welfare of animals it subjects to filth, misery, and pain in a last-ditch attempt to continue operating its shoddy business is a new low, which would allow it to simply change hands while guaranteeing further suffering,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel Brittany Peet. “PETA is urging the Court to shut down this cruel and incompetent outfit and help ensure that its victims have a chance to finally receive the care they so desperately need.”

PETA’s campaign against SeaQuest has included numerous complaints filed with federal and state authorities regarding many injuries to customers and egregious animal welfare issues, including animals who drowned, were burned, were intentionally deprived of food, or were stomped or crushed to death by customers, among other horrors.

SeaQuest CEO Vince Covino quit the beleaguered chain in August, and following pressure from PETA, its locations in Fort Worth, Texas; Littleton, Colorado; Trumbull, Connecticut; and Stonecrest, Georgia have all closed. PETA also helped prevent SeaQuest from opening locations in Florida, New York, and North Dakota.

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.