Feds Cite Houston Interactive Aquarium AGAIN After Young Cavy Dies of Maggot-Infested Wounds

Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve is a seedy petting zoo in Harris County, Texas, where a steady stream of federal citations has revealed injured animals, inadequate veterinary care, unsafe conditions, and other forms of neglect.

The Facility Was Cited Again After a Young Cavy Died of Maggot-Infested Wounds

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report from June 2026 revealed that officials slapped Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve with two more critical citations after inspectors documented injuries among several Patagonian cavies. The report found that:

• A juvenile cavy suffered untreated wounds that became infested with maggots and had to be euthanized after staff failed to notice the animal’s deteriorating condition for several days.
• A cavy named Ginger was found with a 5-inch gash.
• Another cavy, Lavender, suffered puncture wounds, abrasions, and a deep cut after being bullied by other cavies—likely due to stress—in the enclosure. A veterinarian told inspectors that aggression among the herd had increased after the roadside zoo changed how it fed the animals, yet staff continued housing incompatible animals together.

Patagonian cavies—native to the open grasslands of Argentina—are monogamous, forming lifelong pair-bonds. They are one of the very few mammals known to combine monogamy with communal denning: Pairs share a single burrow with as many as 15 other cavy families and raise their pups together. They gallop and bound across the open plains with their long legs. But in cramped roadside zoo enclosures, they have nowhere to escape from stressed-out herd mates.

The new citations follow 15 citations issued after an inspection in April 2026, when an armadillo nearly drowned in a flooded enclosure.

Incidents like these will continue as long as Houston Interactive Aquarium remains in business. Keep reading to learn more about the facility’s long history of animal neglect and take action to help the animals still trapped there.

The Citations Keep Piling Up

Officials have given Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve 39 citations for alleged violations of federal animal welfare regulations in just four and a half years. Here’s what USDA reports over the years have found:

2024: Birds Escaped and Were Never Recovered

A February 2024 USDA inspection report resulted in another critical citation after 40 budgerigars and an Eclectus parrot escaped through a tear in an enclosure and were never recovered.

The birds, native to Australia, would have struggled to survive a subsequent cold snap in Houston—during which temperatures dropped below freezing—and likely perished.

Every parakeet is a unique individual with distinct traits and behavior, including affectionate gestures, which underscores the importance of respecting their intrinsic needs. In their natural habitat, these birds live in giant flocks, fly for miles, talk and sing to one another, protect each other, and enjoy puzzles.

Interactive aviaries, where visitors can enter and feed the birds, often fall short in providing parakeets with adequate space, perches, and enrichment to allow them to engage in normal, natural behavior. Severely crowded conditions make it challenging for staff to monitor the health, welfare, and safety of the birds, particularly during interactions with the public.

2023: More Injuries and Unsafe Public Contact

In September 2023, the USDA cited Houston Interactive Aquarium for failing to have an employee stationed at the giraffe and camel enclosures. This lack of staffing meant that members of the public could have had direct, unsupervised contact with the animals in these enclosures. An inspector stated that not having employees present during contact with customers posed “a significant risk to the health and well-being of both the animals and the public.”

Earlier that year, another USDA inspection found that:

• Staff let a ground squirrel’s skin condition go untreated for two days before notifying a veterinarian.
• The facility failed to properly care for its resident dog.
• The aquarium lacked a complete disaster-preparedness plan.
• An inspector was nearly burned by metal elements exceeding 140 degrees in a shoddy otter enclosure.

2022: Federal Warning After Multiple Animal Welfare Failures

On June 27, 2022, the USDA issued Houston Interactive Aquarium an official warning after multiple failures to meet minimum standards required under the Animal Welfare Act. A USDA inspection report included citations for the following incidents:

• A lemur was left shivering in an unheated outdoor enclosure in 33-degree weather.
• Ten visitors—including children—were allowed to interact with kangaroos while a staff attendant was busy with another animal.
• A capybara was left with no bedding on a gap-riddled, draft-prone wooden floor from which heat was escaping.
• A young giraffe named Lehi was fed an inappropriate diet that led to a life-threatening neurological condition. Although this wasn’t addressed in the USDA citation, it’s worth noting that giraffes are social animals, yet Lehi was taken from his family and is being kept alone.

A Cruel Family Affair

Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve is run by the notorious Covino family,

The facility is closely tied to Ammon Covino, who has spent time in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking. Although he can’t legally obtain a federal exhibitor’s license, Houston Interactive Aquarium has posted more than 150 videos of him spearheading the development and construction of the facility.

His brother, Vince Covino, once owned the disreputable roadside aquarium chain SeaQuest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited SeaQuest locations for the drowning death of a wallaby, hitting otters with a metal bowl, and incidents in which a capybara bit a child and a sloth bit an adult. The business was also criminally convicted for unlawfully purchasing wildlife in Colorado.

Houston Interactive Aquarium has repeatedly shown that it can’t or won’t provide even the most basic standard of care for the animals it confines and exploits. PETA is calling on everyone to avoid this facility and other similarly seedy operations as though lives depend on it—because they do.

Profit-hungry animal exhibitors rarely change their tune after earning these dishonors.

What You Can Do for Animals at Houston Interactive Aquarium

Houston Interactive Aquarium is premised on encouraging children to hold, poke, and prod sensitive animals who would normally shun humans. Animals aren’t props for show-and-tell events—they’re living, feeling individuals who do not want to spend their lives in desolate enclosures.

Since not even a criminal wildlife-trafficking conviction is enough to persuade the USDA to do its job and prevent another Covino aquarium from exploiting animals, it’s up to kind people like you to speak up for them and let Houston Interactive Aquarium know you won’t tolerate animal exploitation and abuse: