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The public was kept in the dark after the two-toed arboreal animal died in December at SeaQuest, activists told the New York Post.
“There was a sloth that was delivered to the facility and it died. But it was miraculously replaced by a new sloth which they told the public was the same sloth,” one activist told The Post. “They are interchangeable. One dies and miraculously a new one shows up.”
There are several Facebook pages devoted to shutting SeaQuest down as well as this online petition posted by Whitney Malin of South Orange.
Another protester, in a now-deleted Facebook post, taunted SeaQuest owner and CEO Vince Covino: “What happened to your first sloth that came in on its death bed to SeaQuest in Woodbridge, NJ? That’s right folks, flash is the SECOND sloth at Woodbridge – the first one DIED in early December and THEY HID THIS FROM THE PUBLIC AND GOT A FREE REPLACEMENT. Vince – we have proof.”
Covino refused to comment to The Post on the sloth-swipe allegation, saying only, “As is typical in our industry, we don’t publicize medical records of our animals outside of regulatory bodies, our vet team, and local and national husbandry teams.”
Malin likened SeaQuest, which opened in late November, to a “Chuckie Cheese with real, live animals.”
Denise Morgan of Sayreville runs the Facebook page Shut Down SeaQuest. “I won’t stop until SeaQuest is shut down all over America,” she told The Post.
SeaQuest generates controversy everywhere it opens: It has eight locations in the U.S.
On Jan. 2, Goats of Anarchy announced on Facebook that Woodbridge's SeaQuest had closed its goat exhibit and surrendered Cora, Roxy, and Stella to the non-profit group. The trio currently resides at a goat sanctuary in Hunterdon County.
Covino defended his zoo to The Post, saying: “All exhibits are inspected regularly by many federal, state, and local regulatory bodies. A local licensed veterinarian supervises the work of a team of dozens of full time animal lovers to ensure all animals receive all the enrichment, nutrition, and care appropriate for their well being.”
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