Change.org Petition: Shut Down the Austin Aquarium

Shut Down the Austin Aquarium 2,100 have signed Madhavi Subramaniam’s petition. Let’s get to 2,500!

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The Austin Aquarium is a for-profit, private business that has been cited for violating the Animal Welfare Act just last year, and isn’t certified under the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). A two-month long undercover investigation revealed that the aquarium regularly abuses its animals and displays a lack of care for both their visitors and employees. Animals are kept in cramped conditions, are denied veterinary care, and are regularly subjected to "interactions" with their often-young visitors with little to no supervision. Due to these conditions, animals exhibit strange, repetitive behaviors due to their lack of enrichment and constant (and forced) interactions with visitors.  The lack of supervision makes it so that it’s not just the animals that are hurt by the aquarium – it’s their patrons, who are often children. That same investigation showed that 12 visitors were bitten by lemurs and a kinkajou in just a two-month period, including a boy as young as 7 years old. The Austin Aquarium has a practice of not caring about their visitors, their employees, or their animals. That practice is reflected in the owner’s history. The Covino family, the founder of this aquarium, has faced hundreds of incidents including visitor attacks, animal injuries and deaths, and USDA citations over the past decade.  By allowing this company to continue operating in Austin, we simultaneously endorse the abuse that it imposes on their animals and visitors. For this reason, the Austin Aquarium should not be allowed to continue operating in our city. Sign this petition now to end the abuse, suffering, and needless pain that this aquarium necessitates.

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