Criticism Mounts At SeaQuest Aquarium At Woodbridge Center Mall

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A duck with a broken foot. A kinkajou seemingly running mad in his cage. Children coming very close to stepping on parakeets. The allegations continue to fly regarding conditions at the new SeaQuest aquarium that just opened last month at the Woodbridge Center Mall.

SeaQuest is owned by Vince Covino, who has been criticized in the past for conditions at his other SeaQuest locations across the nation (Woodbridge is his ninth). The SeaQuest in Littleton, Colorado, for example, failed two animal safety inspections by the state and was the subject of an undercover investigation by the local Fox news affiliate. Residents petitioned to prevent SeaQuest from opening in Lynchburg, Virginia.

And now it seems his New Jersey location is garnering the same criticism: Ever since SeaQuest first opened in early December, groups of animal rights activists have been holding protests every weekend outside Woodbridge Center.

Denise Morgan, a Sayreville resident, organizes the weekly protests. She also runs the Facebook page Shut Down SeaQuest Woodbridge. She said ever since they opened, she's been inundated with dozens of complaints about the business. There is also this petition calling for the state to shut SeaQuest down; so far they've received nearly 6,000 signatures.

"One visitor sent me a video of a honey bear (another term for a kinkajou) weaving back and forth in its cage, doing the same movement over and over, back and forth," she said. "I've had people tell me that animal is going insane. Then there was a video of a duck eating the drywall off its enclosure, actually ingesting it."

While the aquarium did get praise, some people have even taken to TripAdvisor to vent their feelings:

"Conditions are horrible for these animals, mammals and birds!" one person wrote. "It's a Mall Zoo...very sad. Birds are frightened of small children running after them, as well as the handling of the animals too..! Just Awful..they need to be shut down!"

Morgan's next protest is planned for this Sunday, Jan. 12.

Sheryl Petrillo, a Phillipsburg resident, is one of those protesters. She is president of an animal rights/vegan non-profit Animal Defenders Greater Lehigh Valley, and she toured SeaQuest this past Saturday.

"The worst thing we saw was a duck with a broken foot. It was obvious its left leg was broken or lame because it was hanging off to one side," said Petrillo. "The duck appeared to be trying to hide. We told the staff it looked like its foot was broken. And then you see two little kids reach out to ask if they can pet it. The whole thing was just sad."

Petrillo took this video of what she says is the injured duck at SeaQuest this past Saturday:

This video was taken at the Woodbridge SeaQuest, according to Morgan, and it shows a kinkajou repeatedly moving back and forth:

"At the parakeet exhibit, there were a lot of parakeets flying and there were little kids just grabbing at the birds," she continued. "In the rabbit area, there was no place for the rabbits to hide, which is a natural thing for them to do. And one of the rabbits was clearly stressed, panting and shaking and running away from people."

Things got worse when she got to the silkies exhibit, she said. Silkies are small exotic chickens from Asia, and they are popular as pets.

"They had four of them on a small piece of AstroTurf. They were just stuck there for anyone to touch them," she said. "One silkie was obviously sick; it had diarrhea. My friend picked it up and then a kid came over and asked if he could pet it. My friend said no, because it was sick and then they took the bird away. It really looked ill; its eyes were closed."

Both state and local officials say they have investigated numerous complaints made at the Woodbridge SeaQuest and — so far — found all of them to be unfounded.

When contacted by Patch, Covino said SeaQuest is regularly inspected by state and local officials, who have yet to find anything wrong.

"We had inspections today (Tuesday, Jan. 7) from every agency you could imagine, just this morning — U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, state of New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, Animal Control, police and more," Covino said Tuesday. "This is dozens of inspections now, all with the same outcome — no concerns, all animals and habitats are just fine. Anything else is just out of context, or a lie."

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection confirmed to Patch they have issued no fines or violations to SeaQuest for the species at the aquarium that are managed by the DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.

"Woodbridge Township has very limited jurisdiction when it comes to the operations of facilities such as SeaQuest," Woodbridge town spokesman John Hagerty told Patch on Monday. "The Department of Health, along with the Woodbridge police department, has responded to several complaints alleging mistreatment of the animals. The complaints were deemed unfounded and no violation notices were issued."

When interviewed by Patch last fall, Covino said he deliberately runs SeaQuest as a place where children can touch and interact freely with exotic animals.

"I started doing this because I was tired of paying $100 a ticket to take my wife and six kids to the zoo or to an aquarium. Thirty minutes later they'd be bored and ready to leave," Covino said at the time. "What's a shame is that our aquariums get millions of people a year to fall in love with animals. That's what people should be focusing on. I mean, have you ever held or interacted with a threatened species? That's what you'll be able to do here."

Petrillo acknowledged that she is an animal rights activist, so some might say her point of view is skewed.

"But I've read reviews from just a regular mom who went to SeaQuest with her family and they were extremely bothered by what they saw," she said. "So I think people have a clue as to what's going on there. It's very clear animal welfare is not their priority."

"If you want your kids to see and interact with wild animals, the best place is an animal sanctuary," said Petrillo. "And there are so many animal sanctuaries in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. That way, you know your money will go to a good cause, and you know the animals are being well taken care of."

Patch's ongoing reporting on SeaQuest: Sneak Peek At Woodbridge Center Mall Aquarium

Aquarium Coming To Woodbridge Center Mall