Jungle Reef owners speak on steps to ensure animal welfare at aquarium following new USDA report

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The owners of a local aquarium are responding to concerns about the treatment of animals on-site, saying they have addressed all previous issues and are taking further steps. Speaking with ABC-7 Friday, the owners of Jungle Reef Touch Aquarium say they have the documentation and inspection reports to back up their proper care of all animals in the facility.

"We love our animals," said Jon Hepworth. "We can't get away with bad behavior. We just can't. Or we'd be in deep hock with the USDA and ultimately shut down. So I want the opportunity to have people come with an open mind and come in and and honestly ask for Jon. And I would love to walk you around and show you how we're doing things."

The aquarium, which opened in February, is subject to regular inspection by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). A report earlier this year outlined several issues with animal care, including ones leading to the death of a wallaby and a small bird in the facility.

Hepworth says staff were devastated by the loss, and that the staff are all trained in the specialized care for the hundreds of animals on site. A more recent USDA inspection found no compliance issues with federal rules and regulations.

"We have our local vet, we're on a first name basis," Hepworth said. "We're texting all the time. We have to in order to showcase some of the animals we have here.

For Hepworth, opening Jungle Reef in the Shops at Solana brought both the regular stresses of opening a new business, as well as the legal an veterinary requirements that come with live animals and the general public comes.

"We have the experts on call," Hepworth said. "But what we what we can do is by taking care of the physical and daily observations as we go over everything. And the minute we see something that's of a concern, then we get ahold of the vet, and then we take it through there."

The most recent report from the USDA on Jungle Reef was filed after a federal inspection on October 8. The investigator notes no "non-compliant items" were found at the aquarium, which Hepworth says is due to going beyond the documentation requirements and daily checks for the facility.

"We have over 240 animals, different types of species," Hepworth said. "So it's a lot daily documentation, observing their physical well-being as well as their behavioral, making sure that their enclosures mimic everything that they would experience in the wild and making sure that their mental health is up to speed, too."

For the owners including Hepworth and his brothers, running Jungle Reef is about bringing an experience not otherwise available to the public in the Borderland region. And he's willing to show anyone who asks what goes on behind the scenes in full transparency and for the love of the animals.

"And in trying to improve daily on on everything we're doing, we do we do truly care about our animals, Hepworth said. "I know everybody that works here cares about our animals. They all have names. We care about them. We watch over them."