By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

Keeping wild animals in small, bare cages inside a retail shopping mall is absurd and abhorrently cruel. Yet this is the business model of SeaQuest, a for-profit chain of shopping mall-based wild animal petting zoos that has been plagued with controversies and cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture more than 110 times for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

Undercover investigations at two SeaQuest locations reveal abused animals with no access to light or fresh air, dangerous encounters, roach infestations

Undercover investigations at two SeaQuest locations reveal abused animals with no access to light or fresh air, dangerous encounters, roach infestations

WASHINGTON (Nov. 18, 2024)—An undercover investigator for the Humane Society of the United States worked at SeaQuest locations in Fort Worth, Texas, for 28 days and in Las Vegas for 20 days during the summer of 2024.

By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

The flood of inspection reports detailing animal neglect and suffering at puppy mills, wild animal attractions and animal laboratories in the U.S. regulated under the federal Animal Welfare Act continues to be overwhelming. Strengthening the ability of the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in cases involving welfare violations would do a world of good for animals.