ST CHARLES, Mo. — James Earhart has over 10 years of experience, training sea lions.
"I treat them like my kids, I love them with all my heart," Earhart said.
He helps his dad showcase Zoe and Lilly to people all over the country at traveling fairs, which hasn't always been easy.
"Sea Lion Splash, which is our company we've never had a citation. We've had minor violations, which like the 2021 violation was one about expired eye drops," he said.
That USDA 2021 report resurfaced online when a woman expressed concerns on Facebook about the animals' living conditions at the Thrillville Fair in St. Charles County's Family Arena.
"California Sea Lions depth of water, they're only required to have 3 feet 3 inches of water. We have 4 1/2 feet of water. I could have only one pool and still have enough space required for three California Sea Lions, and I have two pools. As far as space goes, we have plenty of space. I mean double what we need to have," Earhart said.
That report stated that the space inside the trailer was too small for the sea lions. Earhart says they now keep them outside overnight.
"Before we realized that pool was too small last year, they would always go inside at night, and now we have 24 hour security watching the sea lions," Earhart said. "When they travel, there are no restrictions, so they go inside for transit, which is once every two weeks."
We asked fairgoers about their thoughts on the animal conditions.
"They look like they're overall happy. They eating and they're playing. They don't look like they're being harmed or anything," Tyanna Riley said.
Earhart says the inspection process reports violations as a warning before issuing citations.
"If you get a violation, they give you a certain amount of time to correct it, and we've corrected everything we need to correct," Earhart said.
Every exhibit at the Thrillville Fair is a separate contracted business.
The St. Charles County Animal Control did a local inspection before the fair opened last Thursday.
The woman's Facebook post also included the dog show and the conditions of the petting zoo, but the Sea Lion instructor was the only one available to interview.
On Saturday, Thrillville made a Facebook post addressing some of the questions and concerns about the animals at the fair.
"Here at Thrillville, we partner with a variety of educational and entertaining family-friendly, family-owned, and operated shows to add to the overall experience for your day at the fair," the post said.
Thrillville Fair will be at the Family Arena in St. Charles County until July 17.
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