AUSTIN, Texas — PETA, or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is asking Austin's Animal Advisory Commission (AAC) to ban all public interactions with wild animals at zoos and aquariums.
PETA sent a letter to the commission Thursday morning urging its members to approve a proposal that would recommend banning all public interactions with wild animals at for-profit zoos and aquariums not accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums – including the Austin Aquarium.
The organization stated that the Austin Aquarium has "a long history of selling dangerous 'encounters' with wild animals that have let numerous visitors injured," citing an incident where a woman said she was attacked by a lemur, which KVUE reported on last month.
Last year, PETA said it conducted an eyewitness investigation where "despite documenting more than 30 incidents in which people were bitten by lemurs, kinkajous, and an otter, PETA’s investigator was instructed by aquarium staff never to document an attack." According to PETA, aquarium workers also admitted to lying when seeking medical attention, "claiming, for instance, to have been bitten by a stray cat."
"Austin Aquarium’s days of forcing terrified wild animals to interact with humans and then scrambling to cover up the fallout are numbered,” said Michelle Sinnott, the PETA Foundation's director of captive animal law enforcement. “PETA is urging Austin’s Animal Advisory Commission to do the right thing and approve this commonsense proposal—for everyone’s sake.”
PETA also noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has previously issued two critical citations to the Austin Aquarium due to biting incidents. Those citations led to an official warning for alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, according to PETA.
PETA said if the AAC passes the proposal at its meeting on Monday, the commission would then need to formally recommend it to the Austin City Council to consider and pass it into law.