State Will Revoke Wild Animal Permits At Woodbridge Mall SeaQuest

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — The state of New Jersey has begun the process of taking away all the wild animal permits from the Woodbridge Center Mall SeaQuest.

Additionally, SeaQuest must "immediately cease allowing public interactions with all regulated wildlife," such as sloths, parrots, lizards and pythons, the state ordered. SeaQuest can still house animals on display, but children can no longer touch or pet any animals.

The please-touch aquarium on the ground floor of the Woodbridge mall is still in business, even while SeaQuest Holdings, LLC undergoes bankruptcy proceedings. Also, SeaQuest owes the mall $381,000 in unpaid rent, Patch exclusively reported in December.

On January 31, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Fish & Wildlife delivered this notice of permit revocation to SeaQuest. The state of NJ intends to permanently revoke SeaQuest's permits to have wild and exotic animals on site.

The state said it is doing this after: "The (DEP) received over 3,500 complaints since 2019, many anonymous, and some from former SeaQuest employees, regarding potential violations at SeaQuest, including but not limited to, complaints of poor husbandry practices for its regulated animals. Additionally, the Department has reviewed photographs and videos posted on SeaQuest’s website and on public social media websites where Department inspectors have observed violations."

SeaQuest is also accused of altering animal vet records before submitting them to the state.

The DEP said it would not be commenting beyond that Jan. 31 letter.

But PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, obtained a copy of the 15-page revocation notice and publicly posted it here.

100 animals died at Woodbridge SeaQuest in past five years

In 2024, the NJ DEP put the Woodbridge Center SeaQuest on an indefinite probation. The state did this after more than 100 animals died there in the past five years that it's been open. In August, NJ Fish & Wildlife warned that if the Woodbridge SeaQuest violated any terms of their probation, they would lose their operating license and be permanently shut down.

SeaQuest now has 20 days to appeal the Jan. 31 notice. Also, SeaQuest is prohibiting from transferring any of the wild animals from their Woodbridge location to another SeaQuest. At one time, the company operated multiple SeaQuests across the nation, but many of them have closed and similarly owe their landlords hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent.

According to their December 2, 2024 bankruptcy filing, SeaQuest has less than $1 million in assets and said it was more than $10 million in debt.

Landlords that say SeaQuest owes them millions in unpaid rent:

• SeaQuest Connecticut: The Trumbull, CT shopping center says SeaQuest owes them $2 million in unpaid rent. Also, the town of Trumbull tax collector says SeaQuest owes them $127,000 in disputed taxes.
• SeaQuest Las Vegas: Mall management office says they are owed $545,000 in unpaid rent.
• SeaQuest Fort Worth: Says they are owed $529,000 in unpaid rent.
• SeaQuest New Jersey: Woodbridge Center Mall says it is owed $381,000 in unpaid rent.
• SeaQuest Littleton, Colorado: Brookfield Properties there says they are owed $160,000 in unpaid rent.
• SeaQuest Roseville, California - no claim found
• SeaQuest Folsom, California - no claim found
• SeaQuest Massapequa on Long Island - no claim found
• SeaQuest Utah - no claim found
• SeaQuest Fort Lauderdale - no claim found
• SeaQuest Chicago (two locations): The Rosedale Shopping Center in Chicago filed a claim saying they are owed $459,000 in unpaid rent. The Layton Hills Mall in Carol Stream, IL says SeaQuest owes them $189,000 in unpaid rent.

SeaQuest Owes Woodbridge Center Mall $381K In Unpaid Rent, Mall Says (Dec. 2024)

NJ SeaQuest Put On Probation After Nearly 100 Animals Died There (July 2024)