East Idaho Aquarium faces animal abuse allegations – Local News 8 Investigates

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - For the last month, Local News 8 has investigated the claims of a PETA whistleblower who has made claims that the East Idaho Aquarium is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of animals every year.

The East Idaho aquarium operates as a non profit, but is not accredited by or accountable to the associations of zoos and aquariums.

However the aquarium still needs to comply with the standards set forth by the animal welfare act.

The whistleblower detailed multiple apparent violations of the Act at East Idaho Aquarium.

That whistleblower now works for Local News 8.

Kris Laswell joined our newsroom as a video editor shortly after being let go as an the Lead Aquarist at the East Idaho Aquarium.

Laswell worked at the aquarium from September 1st 2023 through December 2023, after receiving his degree with an emphasis in zoology from BYU-I.

Throughout his short time at the aquarium, Laswell says he quickly realized the conditions of the animal habitats fell short of the standards of the animal welfare act.

He says he took his concerns directly to his supervisor and the aquarium’s founder Arron Faires.

“I tried to fix multiple things and tried to give them updates and information on how to better the animals' health and welfare," Kris told reporters with Local News 8. "But every single one of them were shot down because it wasn't cost effective."

Laswell says he made repeated complaints to management, but felt his concerns weren’t being addressed.

On December first Laswell was let go from the aquarium 

According to the aquarium Director Arron Faires, Laswell was let go because he was “not really meshing with the culture.”

Laswell then filed a report with peta, people for the ethical treatment of animals.

"I saw multiple times where things that I warned them about happened. That includes most of my baby sharks that I absolutely love and adored. All dead," said Laswell.

Local News 8 also uncovered complaints to the United States Department of Agriculture filed by the former development director and head curator of the aquarium.

Those complaints detail how staff members with “no experience or degree” were “mistreating the animals.”

The former development director originally agreed to speak with if he could remain anonymous, but recently said that Local News 8 could use his name in connection to this story.

When asked about the state of the animals in the East Idaho Aquarium, former development director Alex Marin told Local News 8...

"One of the things he (Arron Faires) told everyone working there from the day first opened, he said, let the public come through. Let them do whatever they want to the animals because we can always buy more."

The aquarium is subject to inspections by the USDA and Director Faires is also required to report animal deaths to Idaho Fish and Game.

Reporters with Local News 8 checked those reports dating back to 2018 when the aquarium first opened. The numbers surged in 2021 when over 700 animals died.

Local News 8 has spoken with several former employees who tell us they quit in part because of those death and issues with Faires response.

“We had parakeet birds dying constantly," Former husbandry team member Erika Dillon told Local News 8. "Whether it was like a couple a week is what it felt like.”

"They had hundreds of dead animals upstairs in the freezer," Lily a former aquarium mermaid performer told reporters.

Fish and game records also document that dozens of birds were "stepped on," "sat on," or otherwise crushed to death by customers during hands-on encounters in the aquarium’s popular bird cage.

PETA reports that these acts violate the animal protections against unnecessary suffering as outlined in the animal welfare act.

"There's so many birds are just walking around your feet and you're just trying your best to just carefully walk around," former aquarium tour guide Adam Goode told Local News 8. "But sometimes one sneaks up on you and you just put your foot down. All sudden it's gone."

Parakeets and cockatiels are federally protected and their enclosure is subject to inspection by the department of agriculture.

Our investigation found the enclosure has only been inspected once since the aquarium opened. 

That inspection took place in February of this year and documented no issues.

The PETA complaint, which was sent to the USDA earlier this month “detailed multiple apparent violations of the federal animal welfare act…including not providing adequate veterinary care for baby parakeets."

“When a baby parakeets fall out of the nest, now they just immediately put them in the freezer...which really breaks my heart," said Erika.

As Local News 8 continued our investigation, our station received a call from the Vice President of the aquarium board, claiming that Laswell is "a disgruntled former employee" and "his complaints to PETA are untrue."

In the weeks since the start of our investigation, Local News 8 has interviewed, talked with and received calls from dozens of current and former members of the aquarium staff who allege mistreatment of the animals.

Hours later, Local News 8 brought the evidence about the animal deaths directly to the aquarium’s founder, including the documents filed with Idaho fish and game.

When shown the reports and documents filed with Idaho Fish and Game, Director Arron Faires told reporters "I think this is too high. This looks like it's been tampered with, to be honest."

We later asked Faires if he had any evidence of the tampering. We’ve received no response.

We also reached out to members of the aquarium board, requesting meeting minutes and records from inside the non-profit’s board meetings. So far, we’ve received no response.

As for PETA whistleblower Kris Laswell, the next step is clear.

I felt like peta, even if I contacted them and they didn't do anything, they at least would be made aware of the amount of abuse that was happening," Laswell told Local News 8. "And how to partner with East Idaho Aquarium to fix that."