(f) It shall be unlawful for a responsible party to tether a domesticated animal while outdoors except when all the following conditions are met:
(1) The domesticated animal is not tethered more than two (2) hours in any continuous twelve-hour period.
(2) The domesticated animal must be over six (6) months of age and in good health.
(3) The tether is connected to the domesticated animal with a buckle type collar or a body harness made of nylon or leather not less than one (1) inch in width and is one (1) inch greater than the domesticated animal’s neck or torso.
(4) The tether has the following properties:
A minimum twelve-foot length;
A swivel type termination at both ends;
Is not made of chain;
Is fabricated of a material that prevents tangles.
(5) The domesticated animal is not housed outside during extreme weather including, but not limited to, extreme heat, temperatures below thirty-two (32) degrees Fahrenheit, hail, tornadoes, tropical storms, or hurricanes.
(6) The domesticated animal has access to water, food, and shelter.
(7) Any pulley, running line, or trolley system to which the tether is attached shall be no less than fifteen (15) feet in length and no more than seven (7) feet above ground.
Please see the following statement from PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler in response to reports that a trailer hauling animals for Mizpah Shrine Circus caught fire this morning.
The Shriners have been repeatedly warned that it’s already terrifying for these animals to be crammed into trailers, hauled hundreds of miles, and forced to perform tricks that baffled and distress them, but now, being trapped in a fire and likely inhaling toxic smoke has added to their trauma. PETA is calling on the Mizpah Shrine to have a heart, understand that times have changed, and follow the lead of Ringling Bros. and UniverSoul circuses by dropping animal acts altogether.
PETA has just been alerted to the plight of a horse who has reportedly been downed and unable to get up for at least four days in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Horrifically, when we called the local sheriff’s office to report the situation, we were told that that the situation was known and that the animal was being provided with food and water—so things have been “handled.” The horse appears to be suffering greatly and—based on the following video—appears to require immediate veterinary attention.
Video footage reportedly recorded earlier today, January 26
Sadly, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department hung up on us when we called to encourage it to mandate that the owner secure veterinary care. Now it’s your turn to make sure the department acts swiftly to help this horse. Please politely call and e-mail the following department contacts to demand that they help this animal today. Again, please keep all correspondence polite, as negative comments will work against our efforts.
Victory! SeaQuest Littleton, the slimy shopping mall aquarium in Colorado that doubled as a death trap for animals, is finally shutting down. Soon, the infamous animal-exploiting hellhole will no longer force animals into stressful interactions, put them and the public in danger, or confine them to filthy, dilapidated enclosures.
SeaQuest Littleton Was a Failure From the Start
SeaQuest Littleton has been racking up federal and state citations for dangerous and cruel incidents since it opened its doors in 2018. That same year, a heat lamp severely burned a sloth named Flash, over 250 trout died, a kookaburra reportedly drowned in a water bowl, and a patron stomped five birds to death. Furthermore, in less than a year, between June 2018 and April 2019, more than 40 incidents occurred at the facility involving injuries to humans, including those to a 4-year-old child who was bitten while feeding an iguana, an 8-year-old child who was bitten by a pufferfish, and an employee who was scratched and bitten by a wallaby.
Similar incidents continued even after SeaQuest Littleton’s state zoological parks license was suspended for two years in 2019. In September 2020, a wallaby named Ben drowned in a tank at the back of his enclosure. The facility was later cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for not providing a way for him to climb out of the tank. In July 2022, a Savannah cat bit a guest during a public interaction, resulting in the quarantine of all three cats at the facility for six months.
In 2023, federal officials cited SeaQuest Littleton for multiple incidents, including when half of the tail of a sugar glider named Luna had to be amputated after it became entangled in a piece of chain in her enclosure.
SeaQuest Littleton’s Closure Comes Too Late for the Animals Who Died There—but YOU Can Help the Animals Still Languishing at Shady Mall Aquariums
So far, PETA has stopped SeaQuest from opening locations in Florida, New York, and North Dakota, and in 2023, the company closed its Trumbull, Connecticut, and Stonecrest, Georgia, locations. While the closure of SeaQuest Littleton is worth celebrating, we’ll continue to keep the pressure on the chain’s remaining U.S. locations to stop its exploitation of animals held there and send them to reputable facilities.
Please never visit any SeaQuest location and encourage your friends, family members, and social media followers to do the same. Help pressure the remaining operations to send the animals to reputable facilities:
After PETA filed numerous formal complaints with federal and state authorities detailing egregious animal welfare issues and many injuries to customers at SeaQuest, the notorious shopping mall petting zoo announced that it’s permanently shutting down its Littleton location.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued SeaQuest Littleton a critical citation and an official warning after half the tail of a sugar glider named Luna had to be amputated because it had become entangled in a piece of chain in her enclosure. In 2022, PETA called for the termination of SeaQuest Littleton’s USDA license after the facility pleaded guilty to illegally purchasing a snapping turtle, who was stolen from his home in the wild. That same year, Jefferson County Animal Control issued the facility a warning for keeping fish in dirty tanks and not providing red-footed tortoises with access to UVB lighting, which is critical to their well-being. And in 2021, the USDA cited the facility after a wallaby was unable to escape from an aquarium tank and drowned.
A sloth hangs behind a wire fence at SeaQuest Littleton. Credit: PETA
“This seedy facility will no longer exploit vulnerable animals, confine them to dangerous enclosures that have injured and killed them, and endanger the public,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Michelle Sinnott. “PETA is calling for the remaining animals to be transferred to reputable facilities and urges everyone to stay away from places like SeaQuest, which fail to give animals even basic care.”
In December 2022, PETA submitted a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission requesting that the agency investigate SeaQuest after members of the public were bitten and injured, including a guest who called 911 to report numbness and difficulty breathing after being bitten by a pufferfish, whose secretions contain a potent poison. Additionally, the USDA issued SeaQuest Littleton a critical citation after a Savannah cat bit a customer, resulting in three cats being quarantined for six months.
The chain’s locations across the country have similar histories: Hundreds of animals have died at SeaQuest facilities or in transit, and the USDA has issued numerous citations for inadequate animal care, improper maintenance, and injuries to members of the public. PETA has stopped SeaQuest from opening in three states (Florida, New York, and North Dakota), and SeaQuest facilities in Trumbull, Connecticut, and Stonecrest, Georgia, both closed following pressure from the group. With the closure of the Colorado facility, SeaQuest has seven operations remaining.
