Python Escapes Enclosure in Shopping Mall—Stand Against Seedy Mall Aquariums!
Large reptiles don’t belong in shopping malls. The escape of a 12-foot-long python from an enclosure at the BlueZoo aquarium—located within a Louisiana shopping center—is just one reason why. The aquarium shut down temporarily as authorities searched for Cara, the Burmese python who was loose in the mall for approximately 62 hours—but this is just more proof that these seedy facilities shouldn’t exist.
The best way to prevent exotic animals from getting loose in shopping malls is to not have them in shopping malls in the first place.
Reptiles like Cara don’t want to interact with humans—so imagine how stressful a busy shopping mall is to a solitary snake. In their natural habitat, snakes warm themselves in the sun, cool off by burrowing underground, climb trees, and swim gracefully.
A roadside zoo inside a shopping mall can’t possibly offer snakes the space, habitat, climate, and other highly specific conditions that they require. In the cramped, impoverished enclosures that snakes are often confined to, many may die from mouth rot, parasites, infections, or even stress.
Don’t Support Shoddy Shopping Mall Petting Zoos Like SeaQuest
SeaQuest—another seedy roadside zoo chain that sets up in shopping malls—has an ugly history of animal welfare violations. At SeaQuest aquariums, animals have died, suffered from neglected injuries, been hit with a metal food bowl, and reportedly been trampled by guests.
SeaQuest’s model of confining animals to cramped, entirely indoor shopping mall enclosures is dangerous for everyone involved—animals and visitors. Members of the public have been bitten and scratched because SeaQuest forces animals into highly stressful public interactions. Employees have reported that animals are kept hungry so that they’ll come to visitors for food.
SeaQuest’s reckless business model has led to the deaths of many animals. Animals aren’t objects for us to poke, hold, and pass around. Forcing them into constant, distressing interactions with humans is inhumane. Speak up for animals who are exploited by SeaQuest aquariums by urging the company to transport all animals trapped in its enclosures to reputable facilities:
