‘Joe Exotic’ Files For Bankruptcy Protection After Court Ruling

“There are 2 news pieces in this post! Now, just about everybody knows Mr. Michael Sandlin, who owns & displays Tony ‘The truck stop tiger in Louisianan  Animal advocates, the ALDF & Mr Sandlin have been at the centre of a costly court case concerning Tony. Advocates say a truck stop is not a good place for a tiger to live, which I agree with! I have posted several videos of Tony, taken by my good friend Mary! But what does this have to do with Joe Exotic; who has just filed bankruptcy??

Well, Sandlin is a good friend of Joe Schreibvogel & last year, Sandlin was quoted as saying “if he was forced to move ‘Tony the truck stop tiger’ he would send him to G.W Exotics ( now called G.W. Zoo ) So I was wondering, if it actually came down to Mr Sandlin having to move Tony the tiger, would he still go to Joe Exotics?? I don’t know what the legal stance would be, moving yet another tiger into a zoo, with a lawsuit hanging over their head? G.W. Exotics were even asking for donations, to build Tony a suitable enclosure!! 

Just six weeks after a federal judge ordered him to pay a Florida animal sanctuary nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit, a Wynnewood man who goes by the name Joe Exotic has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Joe Schreibvogel, who also goes by the names Aarron Alex and Cody Ryan, lists debts totaling $1.2 million, most of which are traceable to the judgment handed down in February by a judge in Florida.

Schreibvogel, who operated what is now the G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood from the late 1990s until February, in court records lists assets of $127,739. Roughly half of that total is in the form of vehicles used to run the animal park.

Schreibvogel lists 43 tigers and five black bears as personal property. Records show the carnivores are worth an “unknown” sum of money.

Schreibvogel also owes more than $30,000 to attorneys who worked on the trademark infringement case, records show.

An affidavit signed by Schreibvogel and filed in federal court states he “became unemployed on Feb. 26, 2013, and I am not receiving any monthly income.”

During a recent interview with The Oklahoman, Schreibvogel said he would file for bankruptcy protection because he didn’t have the roughly $1 million the judge in Florida ordered him to pay the owners of Big Cat Rescue.

Schreibvogel and Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin have been publicly feuding for years over their philosophical differences on the exotic pet trade.

The suit involved Schreibvogel’s use of logos and images that were similar to those created and owned by the Florida animal park.

In the suit, attorneys for Big Cat Rescue alleged Schreibvogel and his associates launched a “counter-campaign of disinformation, misinformation and disparagement” aimed at damaging the credibility of the Florida organization.

The sanctuary’s lawyers claimed Schreibvogel used a logo and other artistic elements “confusingly similar” to materials trademarked by Big Cat Rescue.

Schreibvogel admits he did model a logo for Big Cat Rescue Entertainment — one of the many businesses he’s formed over the years — after the Florida sanctuary’s design, but said he didn’t realize it was wrong to do so.

“We thought we were in the clear,” he said. “We thought they only owned ‘Big Cat Rescue’ with a cat jumping over it.”

Schreibvogel, known for performing magic shows and bringing tiger cubs to shopping malls for paid photographs with the public, said a new company is running the G.W. Zoo. He said he will continue to house his animals at the facility, just off Interstate 35 in Wynnewood.

“They’re my animals … I’m still licensed to exhibit,” he said. “By law, I do not have to be a (business) to exhibit.”

Latest update:-http://newsok.com/article/3779178

WYNNEWOOD, Okla., April 3 (UPI) — An Oklahoma man who goes by the name “Joe Schreibvogel or Joe Exotic” filed for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay nearly $1 million to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit.

Joe Schreibvogel also known as Joe Exotic of Wynnewood said he has debts amounting to $1.2 million, most of which are attributable to a judgment filed against him in February by a federal judge in Florida, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported Wednesday.

He also owes in excess of $30,000 in attorney’s fees for the trademark case.

From the late 1990s until February, Schreibvogel operated what is now the G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood, The Oklahoman reported. He listed assets valued at vehicles and other assets of $127,739, plus 43 tigers and five black bears as personal property, which are worth an “unknown” amount, the newspaper said.

The trademark infringement case stems for a feud between Schreibvogel and Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin in Florida. The case involved Schreibvogel’s use of images and logos similar to those designed and owned by Big Cat Rescue.

Schreibvogel said he modeled a logo for one of his businesses, Big Cat Rescue Entertainment, after the Florida business’ logo, but said he didn’t realize he did not have the right to do so.

News Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/04/03/Trademark-infringement-case-bankrupts-man/UPI-16251365025565/#ixzz2PS9WFnTi

Tony the Tiger Contracted to Move to G.W. Exotic Animal Park:-http://world.einnews.com/247pr/250750

Just a reminder to continue to share Tony’s change.org petition which is nearing 25,000:-http://www.change.org/petitions/ldwf-ensure-tony-the-tiger-is-released-to-a-reputable-sanctuary

Related articles

• Update On Tony The Tiger: Still Held At The Truck Stop (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)

GRAPHIC VIDEO: Tigers And Leopards May Be Killed If Posing Danger To Humans: NTCA

“This is ridiculous, these big cats only turn man eaters when their other meat has been had for tea by the villagers or gone off elsewhere due to the habit forever decreasing!! The people that live around there don’t wait for officials as it is…so God help the poor animals that the villagers catch up with now!! It hardly seems fair, I mean the tigers were in the forest before people started popping up all over!”

“The big cats habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate, so what are they supposed to do for food? Obviously they are going to take a villagers goat or cow for supper; they wouldn’t attack & eat humans if they had plenty meat running around the forest! If the villagers don’t want their livestock eaten, they should build bigger fencing; or better still, don’t  live in the tigers domain! Don’t kill the tigers because they got too close to humans; it’s the other way around, the villagers got too close to the animals. Perhaps more birth control wouldn’t go a miss, for all the women of these small villages; that appear to be sprouting up all over the tigers domain!!”

“Going on past history, the villagers have not waited for the forest department to come & capture a tiger or leopard that has attacked & or killed a human or cattle! I can understand their hate toward the big cat; but killing it won’t bring a person back. Capture & release into another part of the forest is the best for all concerned. If only the powers that be, could arrive much quicker, perhaps the villagers would not take matters into their own hands; therefore the whole scenario could be defused without harming the animal!”

 “Now with the added go ahead as laid-out below in the news post, it’s almost giving the villagers more of a green light to kill the animals themselves; which is the worst thing that could happen! The villagers go into a mob mode & I have seen the violence they inflict on the animals they capture; they go absolutely crazy! It’s almost like a celebration, they have caught the cat & so, inflict their own means of punishment towards it! Even if officials are there, they can’t control the mob mentality of the crowds, who seem to come from nowhere? Pushing & shoving, camera phones held high; all waiting to get a glimpse of the killer about to be killed.”

“There are some horrific videos, of villagers who have caught, what they assume is the animal that killed their cattle; whilst in a frenzied mode, they repeatedly club the cornered cat to death! These villagers don’t need even more of a loop hole to kill the big cats. What needs to be done ASAP is have more armed rangers in & around all the villagers, with phones to request backup & trucks that hold cages & more importantly sedatives; ready at a moments notice to rescue a big cat that the villagers have cornered, timing is of paramount importance ! I’m not sure what the forest rangers have by way of authority over the villagers…but that also need to be changed.. as it is very clear the villagers are not afraid of the forest rangers, as is evident in so many videos, where the rangers appear to be doing nothing at all! Perhaps it could be down to numbers, if it’s only 3 rangers to 300 villagers; they are probably more scared of the swelling mob & their safety, than they are of retrieving the cat!!

“I have posted a video, which happens to be one of the worst things I have ever witnessed, it will forever haunt me in my dreams. Just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes. I’m showing it so that people can see, just how heinous the attacks on the big cats that are caught, really are; it is the cats that need the protecting, for sure! I find it hard to believe, in this era, that so many humans could want to inflict such formidable & macabre acts! Please note I have put the video at the very end, so those who don’t want to see it, will have to stop scrolling down at a certain point.

NEW DELHI: Tigers and leopards, accorded highest protection under the Wildlife Act, may now be killed with due permission from authorities if they pose a threat to human life or are disabled or diseased beyond recovery.

This is part of new guidelines issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in the wake of increased incidents of man-animal conflicts.

“Tiger as well as leopard are categorized under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, with highest statutory protection against hunting under Section 9 (1) of the said Act.

“Hence, such species can be killed if they become dangerous to human life or are so disabled/diseased beyond recovery,” the guidelines for declaration of big cats as ‘man-eaters‘ state.

As both tigers and leopards are known to turn into man-eaters, “such confirmed ‘man-eaters’ should be eliminated as per the statutory provisions provided in Section 11 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.”

The guidelines state that the chief wildlife warden of a state alone has the authority to permit hunting of animals which have become dangerous to human life or disabled or diseased beyond recovery.

As per the statutory requirement, a chief wildlife warden has to give in writing the reasons for permitting elimination before hunting, they say.

According to the NTCA, there are several reasons for a big cat to get habituated as a ‘man-eater’ including disability due to old age, incapacitation due to serious injury or loss of its canines, among others.

“However, there may be several exceptions, and hence specific reasons have to be ascertained on a case-to-case basis,” the NTCA said.

The tiger bearing forests and areas nearby prone to livestock depredation, besides having human settlements along with their rights and concessions in such areas, are generally prone to ‘man-eaters’, the guidelines state.

Loss of habitat connectivity in close proximity to a tiger source area owing to various land uses also foster straying of tiger near human settlements, eventually ending up as a ‘man-eater’.

 News Link:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/wild-wacky/Tiger-leopard-may-be-killed-if-posing-danger-to-humans-NTCA/articleshow/18427938.cms

“This is very gruesome & hard to believe human beings could be capable of such a despicable violent act; to an animal already caged. I have sent this video to a friend of mine in India who is an animal advocate & Media Adviser of OIPA in India / PFA Haryana; he will forward this to the right people if not already done so; I read it was filmed in 2008, so it could have already been dealt with. Please note the quality of this video including the sound is very bad quality, it settles after a minute or two!

“WARNING – View Discretion Is Strongly Advised”

 Leopard being burned alive in Uttarkhand, India, PLEASE DO SOMETHING!

PLEASE READ THIS DESCRIPTION IN FULL!
A leopard that was killing cattle and local villagers was caught, caged and burned alive in the summer of 2008. It remained alive for several hours after, writhing in agony while the police and forest officials watched. I have the list of people who did this. Forest officials, police, and people of the village. You can download it here:
http://www.beyondclix.com/files/Uttar…
We got the information but are at a loss for what to do. Please help!!!!
Please share! Please spread the word! More people should know about what happened. People who can do something about it should do try to do something!

PLEASE!Additional Note: I should have mentioned. Sorry. I did not shoot this video. Someone posted this in FB and we picked it up from there. We shared it with our friends and one of our friends then contacted Indian government under Right to Information Act asking for info on those forest officials. After waiting 6 months they sent the details. The link to download is in description. Then I tried to contact and even tried to meet many politicians and celebs but no one interested yet.

Still trying.Additional additional note: PLEASE don’t make this some country-bashing or religion-bashing thread. You’re taking away from what I’m trying to do. This has nothing to do with poverty or rich, rural or urban or any country in specific. This is about animal rights, empathy and sensitivity of all humans the world over. And I need you to spread the word. That’s all.

Please speak with people about it, online AND offline. Share it with top people. Share it with activists. With celebrities you may know. Your parents. Your friends. Your teachers. At parties. At meetings. Most of all share it with leaders and politicians. I need some help from powerful or important or even famous people. The Indian legal system isn’t much for animal rights in general yet, unless someone important is involved. Thus I will only achieve justice for that animal if you help!

Intern Killed By Lion At California Sanctuary

An intern at a big cat sanctuary in Dunlap, Calif., was killed after being attacked by a lion, officials told ABC News and ABC News station KFSN.

Lion Attacks and Kills Girl at California Sanctuary, Cat Haven – California

Published on 6 Mar 2013 By Minirales

I felt for that girl See realtime coverage Lion fatally mauls woman
at Calif. sanctuaryLion Attacks and Kills Girl at California Sanctuary, Cat Haven – California

DUNLAP, CALIF. A male African lion killed a worker on Wednesday at a private wild animal park in Central California where the cat had been raised since it was a cub, authorities said.

The worker was attacked and fatally injured after getting into an enclosure with the lion at Cat Haven in Dunlap, Calif., Fresno County sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Collins said. The founder of the park, Dale Anderson, said the worker killed was a female intern-volunteer. The sheriff’s office originally said the worker was male.

Sheriff’s Deputy at Cat Haven following fatal attack. / KPGE
Investigators were trying to determine why the worker was inside the enclosure and what might have provoked the attack, Collins said.

The facility, which is licensed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is about 45 miles east of Fresno in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is normally closed on Wednesdays, and only one other worker was there when the mauling happened, Collins said.

He said the county received an emergency call from Cat Haven about 12:30 p.m., and a second call 20 minutes later reporting the injured person had died.

A call to Cat Haven on Wednesday went unanswered.

CBS affiliate KGPE reports that the lion has been shot and killed.

The lion, a 4-year-old male named Couscous, had been raised at Cat Haven since it was 8 weeks old, said Tanya Osegueda, a spokeswoman for Project Survival, the nonprofit that operates Cat Haven.

Osegueda did not know how the park acquired the cub.

Cat Haven is a 100-acre wild animal park just west of Kings Canyon National Park. Since the property opened in 1993, it has housed numerous big cats, including tigers, leopards and other exotic species.

Couscous was one of about two dozen animals at Cat Haven, which has had a good safety record, Spada said.

Another big cat sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla., told the AP last year that at least 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled by exotic cats since 1990. Over that period, 254 cats escaped and 143 were killed.

Tatiana, a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, was killed by police after jumping out of its enclosure and fatally mauling 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. and injuring two other people in 2007.

Cat Haven has housed Bengal tigers, Siberian lynx, caracals, jaguars and leopards of various types as well as bobcats native to the area. Its founder Dale Anderson, described the private zoo several years ago as one of a handful of facilities across the U.S. that has all of the big cat species in one place.

The News Article

“The lion was also killed,” CalFire spokesman Ryan Michaels told ABC News.com.

The incident occurred at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Sierra Cat Haven in Dunlap, a small town in Fresno County near King’s Canyon National Park, authorities said.

The worker was inside the cat enclosure when the attack occurred, officials said. It was not immediately clear what the worker was doing inside the closure, or what prompted the attack.

When Animals Attack

In an interview with KFSN, Sgt. Gregg Collins of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said responding deputies found the worker dead inside a big cat enclosure.

Authorities have not named the deceased worker, but Dale Anderson, the owner of the facility, told reporters it was a female volunteer intern, KFSN reported. Anderson reportedly was crying as he read a statement to the media.

The animal involved in the attack, 4-year-old male African lion named Couscous, was shot by a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy who responded to a call, authorities said.

Prior to sheriff’s deputies’ arrival on the scene, another employee had tried unsuccessfully to lure Couscous away from the victim and into another enclosure.

The park was closed at the time of the attack.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department were investigating the incident.

Tony Spada of the Fish and Wildlife Department said wildlife forensic personnel would “look at the animal and determine if the animal did, in fact, attack the subject, and then we will have our findings. And we work closely with the homicide detectives and/or detectives working the case.”

Cat Haven was founded in 1993 and is run by Project Survival, a privately funded education and conservation organization.

The 100-acre facility is home to a variety of wild cats — including tigers, leopards and other threatened and endangered species which are kept for limited breeding and use in educational programs, according to Cat Haven’s website.

Officials said the park has had a good history, and had an active permit to operate.

Cat Haven also runs an outreach program, and its “cat ambassadors” may sometimes be taken off-site to make appearances as part of that program, the website said.

The preserve is run by a core staff supported by volunteers.

Couscous had been raised at the preserve since he was a cub.

News Link:–http://abcnews.go.com/US/person-killed-lion-california-sanctuary/story?id=18669810

In Citrus Park, shock over horse slaughter allegations

TAMPA (FOX 13) –An investigator known for uncovering illegal slaughter operations in south Florida says farms in the Citrus Park area of Hillsborough County are also illegally butchering animals.

Business and land owners nearby say they’re not surprised, because of the disturbing sounds they’ve heard coming from those farms.

Richard Couto of the Animal Recovery Mission says he has spent the past year infiltrating half a dozen farms, secretly recording video of what he says is inhumane slaughter of, and purchase of, horse meat on six different occasions.

“Kudo,” as he calls himself, says he has hours of video to prove it—video he shared exclusively with FOX 13 News. He says all the farms are within a mile or two of each other in the Citrus Park area of Hillsborough County.

While some of his video looks like a rural scene, Kudo says what he documented is going on barely a stone’s throw from busy highways and a popular mall.

Viewer Discretion Is Advised

The reaction in Citrus Park is shock, and disappointment.

Gustavo Vergara helps his brother run a bike shop in Citrus Park, right next to the Tampa Bay Trail.  When we showed him a few stills of Kudo’s video, he was stunned to learn what may be going on in his neighborhood.

“Shocking…I’m grossed out really, but mostly shocking…unbelievable,” he said.

We also spoke with a woman who wasn’t as surprised. Jennifer Flatt coordinates tour groups for nearby Big Cat Rescue. She says for years they’ve heard disturbing sounds coming from an adjacent property.

“You’ll hear what sounds like horses or donkeys or cattle screaming, not their regular farmyard sounds,  it’ll go on for several minutes, then it’ll just stop,” Flatt said.

Three years ago, the sanctuary started building an 8-foot high fence around their perimeter, but Flatt says that hasn’t stopped another ongoing problem:  gun fire. She showed us several bullet holes in the wall near their leopard habitat. 

“We’ve had to increase our security because we’re hearing a lot of gunshots. Basically, it could be in the morning, in the late afternoon or after hours in the evening,” she said.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed to FOX 13 that they have an ongoing investigation, as does the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office.

But a sheriff’s spokesman says the ban on selling horse meat in Florida that took effect two years ago doesn’t forbid someone from killing a horse for their own personal consumption.

The man  who wrote the Senate version of that 2010 legislation doesn’t see it that way. Former State Senator Victor Crist is now a Hillsborough County Commissioner whose district includes Citrus Park.

“If for whatever reason there are loopholes here that others may have been clever to navigate through, then  I would work to find a way to close those,” Crist said.

Crist says he was horrified by what he saw on Kudo’s video—not just what appears to be the sale of horse meat, but the slaughter of other animals.

” I would be concerned about this going on anywhere in our country,” he said.

The commissioner says he’s working with the county attorney to come up with an ordinance that would ban horse slaughter in Hillsborough County—period. That would require approval by the entire board of commissioners.

News Link:–http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/18783952/2012/06/14/in-citrus-park-shock-over-slaughter-allegations

Ohio wild animal stampede ignites vast law review

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Of all the beasts set free by the suicidal owner of an exotic animal farm in Ohio last year, few were as scary or as lethal as the big cats.

Tigers, leopards and lions — more than two dozen — were loose before being hunted by sheriff’s deputies.

While the slaughter was chilling, it was truly panic-inducing that an unstable owner had accumulated such a collection of dangerous animals.

Yet, by some estimates, there are thousands of tigers in captivity in American backyards — more than there are in the wild on the planet.

No one knows the number for certain because there’s only scattered regulation for such pets. In fact, it’s easier in some states to buy a tiger or lion from a breeder than it is to adopt a kitten from a shelter.

That’s likely to change after the Zanesville stampede drew the attention of lawmakers around the country.

Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats. Ohio and other states are also looking to outlaw the animals or to keep them more tightly controlled.

One leader of the cat fight is actress and animal activist Tippi Hedren, best known for being terrorized by crows in Alfred Hitchcock‘s “The Birds.”

Hedren has devoted much of her life to rescuing big cats at her Shambala Preserve north of Los Angeles, home to 53 seized or abandoned exotic cats, and she doesn’t think they make good pets.

“It is the job of the predator to take out any old, sick or lame animal. What quality there makes for a good pet?” she asked. “If you get near its food, it will kill you.”

The Zanesville animals may have forced the issue into the open, but it certainly isn’t the first tragedy involving private cats.

Since 1990, 21 people, including five children, have been killed and 246 mauled, according to Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla. Over that period, 254 cats have escaped and 143 have been killed.

There have been other federal laws proposed over the years, but most have failed.

Read the rest of the story: http://www.seattlepi.com/living/article/Ohio-wild-animal-stampede-ignites-vast-law-review-3523235.php#ixzz1tk5VYR8T