Victory: SeaQuest Roseville Shutters in Shame Amid PETA Campaign and Open Investigation
For Immediate Release:
February 18, 2025
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
After nearly six years of confining hundreds of animals in squalid, hellish conditions—and following a PETA campaign and a company-wide bankruptcy declaration in December—SeaQuest’s Roseville location has shut its doors.
The closing comes after the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced its investigation into the beleaguered operation last month following a PETA complaint alleging violations of state captive wildlife regulations. PETA’s complaint pointed to federal inspection reports revealing that SeaQuest Roseville kept animals in hazardous enclosures, failed to clean accumulated mouse feces, allowed flies to swarm around animals’ food, and let animals go months without regular visits from a veterinarian.
“Champagne corks are popping at PETA now that this blight on Roseville has finally stopped exploiting and endangering animals,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “The SeaQuest chain is a scourge, and PETA will continue to call out its failings until the four remaining outposts follow suit and close up shop for good.”
In an August federal inspection report of SeaQuest Roseville, officials documented a pig with overgrown hooves; exposed metal wires, screws, and sharp splinters of wood in birds’ enclosures; and an electrical cord in a Bengal cat enclosure that was within the animals’ reach.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited SeaQuest Roseville for failing to adequately clean enclosures housing otters, sloths, African crested porcupines, and pigs, all of which had buildups of “organic material” and grime on the walls.
PETA notes that SeaQuest CEO Vince Covino quit the chain, and following pressure from PETA, its locations in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, and Texas have all closed. PETA has stopped SeaQuest from opening facilities 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.
