{"id":134562,"date":"2025-08-10T14:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T14:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/134562\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T14:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T14:40:09","slug":"peta-to-protest-touch-tanks-at-san-antonio-aquarium-after-viral-octopus-encounter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/134562\/","title":{"rendered":"PETA to protest touch tanks at San Antonio Aquarium after viral octopus encounter"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will hold a protest outside the San Antonio Aquarium after a mother says an octopus clung onto her 6-year-old,<\/a> leaving purple marks on his arm.<\/p>\n

The protest is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday, according to a PETA news release, outside the aquarium located at 6320 Bandera Road in Leon Valley.<\/p>\n

KSAT will livestream the event in this article. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.<\/b><\/p>\n

In the release, PETA President Tracy Reiman said, \u201cIt\u2019s only a matter of time before there is another injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimals deserve respect and to be left in peace, and forcing stressed wild animals to endure life in a tank and grabbing hands risks their safety and the public\u2019s,\u201d Reiman said. \u201cPETA is calling on the San Antonio Aquarium to stop treating animals as props and is warning everyone to stay away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news release notes the aquarium is owned by the Covino family, who also own the Austin Aquarium.<\/p>\n

The Austin Aquarium was recently issued a warning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture following multiple alleged animal attacks on customers, according to KVUE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a statement to KSAT, the San Antonio Aquarium said the safety and well-being of guests, staff and animals is its \u201ctop priorities,\u201d and the aquarium remains committed to \u201cproviding safe, educational, and memorable experiences for all visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Octopus encounter goes viral<\/p>\n

In now viral TikTok videos, Britney Taryn described how a giant Pacific octopus at the aquarium clung onto her 6-year-old son<\/a> and refused to let go.<\/p>\n

Taryn told KSAT it took three employees to get the octopus off her son.<\/p>\n

In an animal welfare complaint to the USDA, she said her son \u201csustained extensive suction bruises\u201d and \u201cthe employees on-site downplayed the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The viral octopus encounter at the San Antonio Aquarium on July14th. (KSAT 2025)<\/p>\n

The department informed her that octopuses are not covered under the Animal Welfare Act and are not subject to the act\u2019s regulations.<\/p>\n

According to Taryn, visitors are allowed to touch the octopus, which is also listed as an \u201cencounter\u201d on the aquarium\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGuests are encouraged to hand-feed some of our animals and pet with a gentle two-finger touch on their back,\u201d the website says.<\/p>\n

>> <\/b>Mother responds to San Antonio Aquarium\u2019s statement on viral octopus encounter<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums told KSAT the \u201cSan Antonio Aquarium is not an AZA-accredited member and is not a member of our Pathway Toward Membership program.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association also said only 10% of USDA licensed facilities meet the AZA\u2019s gold standard for zoos, aquariums and science centers.<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Aquarium\u2019s most recent inspection report, conducted on April 2, found \u201cno non-compliant items.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just worried something worse is going to happen. … I don\u2019t want anything to happen to any more kids, any adults,\u201d Taryn said. \u201cI don\u2019t want anything to happen to the octopus. So we\u2019re just trying to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, the aquarium said the octopus exhibit has a tall barrier to protect guests and the animal.<\/p>\n

In order to reach the octopus, the aquarium said it requires the person to lean fully over the wall and reach about 24 inches down from the top of the tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this instance, the guest leaned her child over the exhibit barrier, allowing him to reach into the habitat without staff supervision,\u201d the aquarium said in a statement, in part. \u201cAt no point was the octopus aggressive or attempting to harm the child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taryn described the aquarium\u2019s statement as \u201cfalse\u201d and \u201cdefamatory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shark theft, previous code violations<\/p>\n

Just weeks after it opened in late 2014, KSAT reported<\/a> that parents expressed concern about the safety of both the children and the animals at the aquarium\u2019s touch-and-feel tanks.<\/p>\n

In July 2018, surveillance video captured three people stealing a horn shark from an open pool where visitors could reach in and pet various species.<\/p>\n

The suspects disguised the shark as a baby and placed it in a stroller, KSAT previously reported<\/a>. The female shark was returned to the aquarium two days later.<\/p>\n

In the days following the theft, the aquarium said it would not shut down touch pools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Later in 2018, it was temporarily closed<\/a> by the City of Leon Valley after multiple safety hazards were found following a routine fire inspection, KSAT reported. Violations ranged from unsecured propane tanks to hazardous electrical wiring.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the aquarium was shut down by Leon Valley police<\/a> for violating an emergency declaration due to the coronavirus pandemic. The aquarium allowed patrons inside the building, which was a violation of the ordinance, police told KSAT.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will hold a protest outside the San…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":134563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,3425,41769,47551,1809,7202,70887,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-134562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-animals","10":"tag-leon-valley","11":"tag-peta","12":"tag-protest","13":"tag-san-antonio","14":"tag-san-antonio-aquarium","15":"tag-sanantonio","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115004992870400391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}