SeaQuest Trumbull Is Closing: Sinking the Shipwreck of a Facility

VICTORY: PETA is pleased to report that the frequently cited, seedy roadside aquarium SeaQuest Trumbull in Connecticut is closing. Soon, this speciesist dump will no longer exploit animals for entertainment.

The Dirty Details Behind SeaQuest Trumbull’s Closing

SeaQuest Trumbull opened in July 2019, and since then, PETA has submitted eight complaints about the facility to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

We made numerous complaints to state and local authorities regarding issues at the site, including problems with its fish spas and damning whistleblower allegations of egregious animal welfare issues. We even filed a request to strip the facility of its state approval to possess certain animals, which resulted in a settlement requiring SeaQuest Trumbull to remove a porcupine and kinkajous from the facility.

PETA also submitted a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission in late 2022 regarding injuries to the public that occurred at SeaQuest locations across the country, including at the Trumbull facility.

SeaQuest Trumbull’s closing comes on the heels of PETA’s most recent complaint to the USDA about the facility, in which we detailed damning allegations from a whistleblower, including the following:

• Two Bengal cats received no treatment for infections for over a month.
• Workers deprived cockatiels of food in order to force them to interact with guests.
• Parakeets frequently became “egg bound”—a potentially fatal condition in which eggs become stuck inside a bird—and received little to no veterinary care.
• Multiple customers and employees sustained scratches and bites from animals, including a wallaby, a parrot, and an otter.

Before SeaQuest Trumbull announced its closing, the USDA had issued it more than a dozen citations for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Incidents there included those in which an employee hit an otter with a metal bowl, staff left rabbits without food or water, an otter bit children on multiple occasions, and feces and debris accumulated in improperly maintained enclosures.

The Trumbull hellhole’s closure means there’s one less business exploiting animals for a quick buck. While celebrating this victory, PETA will keep up the pressure on other SeaQuest locations to stop exploiting the animals held there and send them to reputable facilities.

Is This the Beginning of the End for SeaQuest?

So far, PETA has stopped SeaQuest from opening in three locations (Florida, New York, and North Dakota). With the Connecticut facility’s closure, the chain will have eight aquariums remaining in the U.S.—and PETA will persist in working against it until the whole shady business stops exploiting animals.

How You Can Help Animals Imprisoned in Mall Aquariums

Never visit any SeaQuest location, and encourage your friends, family members, and social media followers to do the same. Help pressure the remaining SeaQuest operations to send the animals held there to reputable facilities.