Sam’s Club Cuts Ties With SeaQuest After Push From PETA

For Immediate Release:
November 30, 2022

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Fish-shaped vegan chocolates are on the way to Sam’s Club in thanks to the retailer for ending the sale of tickets to notorious aquarium chain SeaQuest following discussions with PETA.

SeaQuest has been plagued by animal deaths and neglect, legal violations, and injuries to employees and the public. Among other incidents, a capybara bit a child and a sloth bit an adult. There have also been a number of premature animal deaths, including those of a wallaby who drowned in Colorado, a flying squirrel who was crushed to death in a door in New Jersey, and an otter who drowned after her arm got caught in a pool filtration system in Las Vegas. The company has racked up more than 50 citations in just five years for failing to meet even the minimal care standards required by the federal Animal Welfare Act.

“In a major win for animals, Sam’s Club has decided it wants nothing to do with an aquarium chain that neglects wildlife, endangers visitors, and shirks the law,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is celebrating this move and encouraging other businesses to prioritize animal welfare and public safety as Sam’s Club continues to do.”

Sam’s Club’s history of taking action for animals includes ending the sale of tickets to SeaWorld, where bottlenose dolphins and orcas languish in tanks so small they can’t escape attacks from other frustrated, aggressive animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.