FORT WORTH, Texas — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Monday sent a letter to Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells calling for an investigation into allegations of neglect of animals at the Seaquest Fort Worth aquarium in Ridgmar Mall.
“Three former employees witnessed and documented Seaquest’s egregious and chronic failure to provide animals with basic care, which resulted in widespread suffering, neglect, and death. These whistleblowers described a top-down organizational structure, where Seaquest management consistently failed to address issues with animal enclosures that were negatively affecting animal health,” PETA’s letter read.
The letter alleges two nurse sharks died at Seaquest after being held in a tank that was too small for them and had poor water quality. PETA said in the letter the sharks stopped eating normally in May and were dead by June.
“As detailed in the attached appendix, the whistleblowers documented animals who suffered and died due to Seaquest’s intentional failure to provide them with necessary care. Animals like Icarus and Achilles, two nurse sharks who likely starved to death after extreme stress from inappropriate environmental conditions impacted these animals so severely that they stopped eating,” PETA’s letter continued.
PETA alleges Icarus and Achilles were kept in a 10,000 tank with another shark named Zeus, two blacktip reef sharks, and seven green moray eels. The organization says nurse sharks can reach between nine and 10 feet long and should have a 5,000-10,000 gallon tank for one shark.
PETA also said in the letter that dozens of fish were shipped to Fort Worth from Littleton, Colorado, earlier this year in trash bags or other coolers and of the approximately 50 fish shipped, all but eight died.
“Dozens of marine animals died in plastic bags, likely suffocating to death, when shipped inappropriately to Fort Worth in a U-Haul after SeaQuest abruptly shut down its Littleton, Colorado location earlier this year,” the letter says.
PETA’s letter comes the week after ABC News reported Seaquest’s CEO Vince Covino announced that he’d be stepping down after allegations of animal neglect.
Seaquest Fort Worth did not respond to WFAA’s request for comment.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported earlier this year that Seaquest Fort Worth was cited for cramped and unsanitary conditions, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
An ABC News investigation in collaboration with affiliate stations KXTV, KSTP and KTNV earlier this year found that nine SeaQuest locations were cited more than 80 times in the past five years by federal and state government agencies for issues ranging from potential disease hazards to inadequate care of animals, which in some cases led to animal deaths.
