Convicted Wildlife Trafficker Behind Shady Houston Interactive Aquarium

There’s an ugly history behind the incongruously named Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve—and it’s nothing less than criminal. It’s no secret that this Texas roadside attraction is run by convicted wildlife trafficker Ammon Covino and his family. So why did the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) give a license to exhibit animals to this sleazy aquarium? Your guess is as good as ours.

In addition to Covino’s track record of violating federal wildlife laws, his history in the aquarium business is littered with animal suffering. The Houston Interactive Aquarium alone has racked up numerous USDA citations, including for feeding a young giraffe an inappropriate diet that led to a life-threatening neurological condition, for failing to prevent the escape and likely death of 40 common parakeets and an eclectus parrot from their enclosure, and for failing to notify a veterinarian to an ostrich in need of veterinary care after she became stressed and repeatedly ran into a fence causing a wound on her chest and on another occasion was found panting and unable to walk after workers used a cattle panel to force her to move.

Like Covino’s other aquarium ventures, the Houston Interactive Aquarium is premised on encouraging children to hold, poke, and prod sensitive wild animals who would normally shun humans. Treating animals as nothing more than props for show-and-tell is a form of speciesism—the misguided belief that humans are more important than other animals.

Since not even a criminal wildlife trafficking conviction is enough to persuade the USDA to do its job and prevent the Covino family from exploiting animals, it’s up to kind people like you to speak up for these animals and let the Houston Interactive Aquarium know you won’t stand for animal suffering.

Please send polite comments to:

Crystal and Ammon Covino
[email protected]

Then contact the Houston Interactive Aquarium on social media:

Please feel free to use our sample letter, but remember that using your own words is always more effective.