A complaint filed with the 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney and the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center alleged that an adult nurse shark that died at Tampa’s Florida Aquarium in November was due to human neglect.
The complaint was brought forth by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation on Thursday after a former biologist who worked for the aquarium came forth with allegations that the captive shark, named Weezy, along with several rays from the same exhibit were deprived of food. The organization is requesting that a formal investigation be made into possible animal cruelty, which would carry a felony charge in Florida.
The allegations contend that a third-party consulting group, Precision Behavior, which was responsible for training some of the animals in the interactive shark exhibit to be more compliant, would intentionally withhold food from animals in order to “facilitate new guest interaction.”
According to a press release from PETA:
The ex-employee reported that intentional food deprivation was used as a training technique at the facility, where staff allegedly attempted to force nurse sharks and stingrays to feed on cue by withholding food from animals who failed to eat promptly at designated times each day.
“Precision Behavior reportedly is the one who dictated the training program,” PETA’s director of law Jared Goodman told Tampa’s WMNF during a radio interview on Friday. “They were called in by the Aquarium to help train these animals. They directed the Aquarium and of course, Aquarium management signed off on this plan to withhold food from the animals in order to get to train them for interactions.”
Weezy was one of two sharks that were being trained to interact with humans by sitting “in a guest’s lap while being hand fed by a trainer,” according to Goodman. Nurse sharks, despite reaching lengths of 15 feet or more, are extremely docile. Because they do not require constant movement to breathe like most sharks, they are a popular species for aquariums and can exhibit domesticated behaviors.
The Florida Aquarium disputed the allegations via press release and claim that the shark died of natural causes.
Senior Vice President of Conservation, Husbandry and Research, Margo McKnight contends, through the release, that the shark died from “a chronic lesion on his heart valve” and not from malnutrition.
We are greatly saddened to lose our nurse shark, ‘Weezy.’ We have never and would never implement a food deprivation program for any of our animals. In contrast to the claims, our comprehensive wellness program includes environmental, nutritional and behavioral aspects carried out by a highly trained and passionate staff. All of the animals at The Florida Aquarium, whether an otter, lemur, shark or stingray, receive the highest standards of care—including time and resources spent to understand mortality.
Source: WMNF