AUSTIN AQUARIUM OWNERS UNDER FIRE FOR POSSIBLE ANIMAL CRUELTY

by Clay Dafoe
August 26, 2013

The Austin Aquarium, currently being built in far North Austin, has come under scrutiny after owners Vince Covino and Ammon Covino were cited by PETA and other sources as being potentially responsible for animal cruelty.

Another aquarium run by the Covinos, the Portland Aquarium in Oregon, is currently being investigated by the Oregon Humane Society after reports have been circulating of animal abuse including overcrowding, overheating and the deaths of nearly 200 animals. In addition, Ammon Covino was convicted of unlawful sale and purchase of animals in early 2013 after he bought four eagle rays and two lemon sharks and shipped them to his Boise Aquarium in Idaho.

According to the Austin Chronicle, the City of Austin has stated that the owners were cited in July for housing animals without a permit and when they subsequently applied for a permit to do so, were denied. KUT reports that the University of Texas' Texas Advanced Computing Center planned a partnership with the Austin Aquarium but that it is now being reconsidered after the recent revelations.

http://austin.ynn.com/content/news/295001/ut-puts-austin-aquarium-partnership-on-hold

http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2013-08-26/austin-aquarium-gets-the-fisheye/

http://www.kutnews.org/post/ut-halts-partnership-controversial-austin-aquarium