SeaQuest’s Successor Wins Cold-Hearted Company Award from PETA
For Immediate Release:
June 18, 2025
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Summer may be heating up, but Layton Aquarium & Wildlife Encounters—formerly SeaQuest Utah—has just received PETA’s Cold-Hearted Company Award for continuing SeaQuest’s miserable legacy of suffering and exploitation by refusing to improve conditions for the animals in the company’s clutches.
At Layton Aquarium & Wildlife Encounters, several species of reptiles, including iguanas, tortoises, and turtles, have been observed repeatedly climbing against the walls of their cramped enclosures—a sign of psychological distress—and one iguana was seen missing most of the spines along their back, likely due to inadequate living conditions and improper humidity. Fish have been seen in filthy tanks with green growth on the walls, and other animals, including axolotls and snakes, are forced to live in cramped, crowded conditions.
“It takes a cold heart to treat feeling, thinking wild animals as disposable props, and Layton Aquarium is carrying on SeaQuest’s bad business practices,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges families hoping to make happy summer memories to steer clear of this vile place and opt for animal-free entertainment instead.”
In nature, tortoises spend their days basking in the sun and digging burrows; sloths, who are nocturnal, naturally sleep up to 20 hours a day and spend the majority of their time alone; and stingrays enjoy foraging for food and burying themselves in the sand. But at Layton Aquarium & Wildlife Encounters, these and other animals are confined indoors and subjected to loud noises and constant human touch, causing them acute and chronic stress.
SeaQuest aquariums had been plagued by animal welfare issues, animal deaths, legal violations, and injuries to employees and the public from direct contact with animals. In just six years, SeaQuest racked up over 130 U.S. Department of Agriculture citations for failing to meet the bare minimum required under the federal Animal Welfare Act.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
