Mystical Magic of the Endangered Act

Joe Exotic is actually Joe Schreibvogel, the president of G.W. Exotics – an organization with a long history of animal abuse. Please read the information below and feel free to send your thoughts to all those listed below (TV, newspaper, govt officials, corporate sponsors, etc.) It might just help for the next time since he travels the country making money off his “exotic animal mills.” Go to www.joeexotic.com and www.gwpark.org and prepare to get mad!

You can call the mall at (608) 781-4700 or (608) 781-0610. Do it today since Joe will be “on the road” again after this weekend!

“Joe Exotic” is taking up residence at Valley View Mall thru Sunday (http://www.joeexotic.com/). Outside Sears, they have a large area set up that consists of four, approximately 6 foot high, pens/kennels. In 2 of the kennels, there were a few baby Tigers, and in the other 2 kennels, there were a few, what I would consider, young adult Tigers.

They are selling 8 minutes of time with the Tigers for $25 as well as a variety of pictures with the Tigers for different dollar values. Also for sale are stuffed Tigers and other items.

Walking from this area towards Center Court, you will find what appears to be an information table that will probably become an autograph signing table after Mr. Joe Exotic’s shows. Walking to Center Court, you will find the entire area outside Macy’s set up for a “magic show”.

The Health Department and Animal Control department are aware of the situation. The dilemma – nothing exists in County statue to make any of this illegal.

Concerns that pertain to this situation:

·Safety for both humans and Tigers including bites and rabies

·Care of the Tigers

·The nature of this business – baby Tigers are what everyone wants to see and how they appear to make their money – what happens to the baby Tigers after they grow up?

·The message this does send to people – this is why we hear of exotic animals like this being found in apartments/homes across the USA.

SAMPLE LETTER TO MALL PERSONNEL AND MEDIA:

Senator Feingold

Representative Kind

All Major Wisconsin Newspapers and TV Media Outlets

Mayor Johnsrud

Macy’s, Sears, Herberger’s, JCPenney Corporate Offices

I read, with horror, that the Valley View Mall in La Crosse, Wisconsin is currently hosting the “Mystical Magic of the Endangered” act. Unfortunately, with so little legislation in place to safeguard citizens and allow businesses, malls, fairs, etc. to accurately check out exactly who and what they’re getting involved with, the public is being exposed to tremendous danger and the animals on display are suffering horrific lives that few are aware of.

Exotic Joe is actually Joe Schreibvogel, President of the infamous G. W. Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, OK. His USDA license is License 73-C-0139 and his USDA violation file is attached (please take the time to read it since it lists many of his animal cruelty violations). He has been slapped with violations and even fined $25,000 which, in the world of USDA animal violation fines, is a huge amount. At any one time, he has housed more than 170 big cats and 1,400 animals on 16 acres. I am a senior keeper at an accredited big cat rescue sanctuary. We currently provide a home for about 125 rescued wildcats on 42 acres and feel we are maxed out given the space we have. With 1,570 animals crammed onto 16 acres at G. W. Exotic, you can imagine the poor quality of life and lack of care these animals must endure.

If you check out Joe’s website at http://www.gwpark.org/ you will see a website filled with people holding, handling, posing with baby exotic animals. Where do you think all these animals wind up when they are adults? Though he’ll claim he doesn’t breed or sell, the evidence below is quite the contrary. What quality of life must these animals suffer when they are trucked all over the country for these “magic” shows?

What you know as “puppy mills” is what Joe runs, the difference being he churns out dangerous carnivores. Joe is a major supplier fueling the exotic animal trade. It’s very easy for him to book gigs and travel with these babies since he ties his act to “protecting endangered species” or whatever the buzzword of the day is. But, make no mistake, this is a modern day snake oil salesman making money off the backs of these innocent animals with more and more being churned through his “park.” All the while, he is exposing the public to a tremendous amount of danger.

I’m sure that if the Valley View Mall, as well as the anchor stores, knew of this man’s horrendous reputation, they would not have risked the negative publicity he can generate in order to draw in unsuspecting customers. Isn’t it time our state and national representatives enact legislation to protect the general public from this type of deceptive practice and eliminate the public safety risk and the animal abuse it encourages? The maulings and killings become more and more prevalent. Haley Hilderbrand, a high school senior was killed when she posed with a tiger for a photo only a couple of years ago and yet the namesake bill sponsored after her death still lingers in Congress.

My hope is that each of you I have copied in this letter will do your best to prevent this from happening again. Don’t these animals and your customers/constituents deserve due diligence?? They can’t defend themselves, but you can certainly defend them.

Sincerely,

Julie Hanan

Lutz, FL

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON JOE SCHREIBVOGEL, G.W. EXOTIC ANIMAL PARK:

The following quotes are from G.W. Exotic Animal Park:

·“… I do not in any way breed, sell, ship out, lease, or loan out any of my animals …”
—[J1], letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, December 6, 2002

·“[A]ll of our cats are fixed or split up so they can’t breed, … we do not buy, sell, or trade any animal….”
—[J1], e-mail message to PETA, August 30, 2003

·“I never sell or donate to anyone.”
—[J1], letter to Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Renewal of Commercial Wildlife Breeders License, November 21, 2001

Contradictory incidents since 2001:

·GW sold one male and two female lion cubs for $1,500 each to the Amarillo Zoo in Texas. All three were born at GW in September 2005 and were declawed before they were 1 month old. Parents of the cubs were all GW residents who were allowed to breed.

·TV news reported an astounding 18 new tiger cubs and one very pregnant tiger at GW. The pregnant tiger, Sasha, was GW’s first rescued, and never spayed, tiger.

·A female cougar, born at GW on March 14, 2000, was shipped to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo in the Republic of Korea.

·A cougar, born at GW, was shipped to the Sofia Municipal Zoo in Bulgaria.

·Two cougars born at GW were shipped to the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand.

·GW reportedly tried to sell an infant baboon named Savannah, born April 24, 2003, to an undercover activist who visited the facility.

·GW sent a lion cub to Capital of Texas Zoo (Cedar Creek, Texas). The cub was then loaned to Bobbie Colorado, who appears weekly on an Austin TV station. While in the custody of Bobbie Colorado, the lion cub was killed by a dog.

·GW transferred a tiger named Blondy to the Hillcrest Zoo, a roadside zoo in Clovis, New Mexico, that has been repeatedly cited for a multitude of violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including failing to provide sufficient food to three zebras who all died within a two-day period.

·In 2003, GW obtained four snakes, four flying squirrels, two sugar gliders, and 10 alligators from Strictly Reptiles, a Florida wholesale distributor of reptiles.

·GW has purchased animals including a bear cub, a tiger cub, miniature horses, and birds from exotic animal auctions, such as Lolli Bros., which states on its Web site: “From Apes to Zebra—We sell it all!! In addition to ‘live’ animal sales, we also offer a phenomenal selection of excellent of Taxidermy [sic] at each sale.”