PETITION CLOSED
PETITION TARGET: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
UPDATE (5/16/2023): We sent our petition, signed by more than 26,000 people, to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to obtain a statement that the aquarium will stop the cruel practice of showcasing captured octopuses. Thank you to everyone who signed, and we’ll continue to advocate for octopuses! — Lady Freethinker Staff
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A giant Pacific octopus, once living freely in the waters of Washington’s Puget Sound, is now held captive by the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium after workers seized her from her home. She will spend the rest of her life imprisoned for the “entertainment” of the aquarium’s visitors.
Whenever Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium “collects” a new octopus, they search for a juvenile between the size of a grapefruit and a soccer ball, according to The Seattle Times. Once collected, the octopuses are never released.
It’s time to stop stealing wild octopuses from their homes and forcing them to live the rest of their lives in captivity.
Octopuses are intelligent, sentient creatures. They use tools, solve mazes and puzzles, recognize people, build underwater cities, and even escape from aquariums.
In 2016, Inky the octopus slipped out of his tank at New Zealand’s National Aquarium, made his way across the floor to a six-inch-wide drain that connected to the Pacific Ocean, squeezed through, and went back home.
Octopuses are easily bored, too — so much so that they have been documented climbing out of tanks to die and biting their own arms off when not provided appropriate stimulation.
Their freedom should not be revoked for our “entertainment.”
Sign this petition urging the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium to immediately end all “collecting” of wild octopuses.
