Menace to Society



Joe Schreibvogel



While researching for this blog, I found a site that reports on abusive animal keepers. This site is entirely focused on exposing facilities and owners of animals who are not compliant with USDA regulations, who in fact completely flaunt those regulations. I have found reports of one such man that are unbelievably disturbing. His name is Joe Schreibvogel. You may have actually seen one of his many pay for play sessions at your local mall. His organization claims to be helping to preserve the tiger species but is in fact using these poor cubs to finance his "sanctuary", which is anything but. Sadly, these baby tigers and lions are kept in deplorable conditions, being carted around from place to place while sick and dying. Schreibvogel's organization has been recorded allowing cubs with diarrhea to be displayed. Instead of keeping them out of the display and nursing them back to health his crew just wipes up the diarrhea with a towel and then wipes the bottoms of these poor screaming cubs. In 2010, 23 cubs died from lack of proper care. Schreibvogel has been investigated by PETA and the USDA in regards to his practices and has been cited and put on probation in 2006. Hopefully conditions have improved somewhat since then, but the fact remains that this man is still breeding these animals for his own benefit. A true sanctuary does not breed animals. It's goal is to save animals that have been abused or misused and to educate the public not to own or breed these animals since it actually does nothing for conservation (see my article below on tiger breeding). The goal of a good sanctuary is to give a good quality of life to animals who have been removed from abusive conditions and to help preserve the species in its natural habitat. This man, and others like him must be stopped. Allowing someone like him, who claims to be doing good for the animals, to continue to run a breeding facility is criminal. I urge you to look at this link: http://www.911animalabuse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:schreibvogel-joe-exotic&catid=31:browse-by-name&Itemid=41

and decide for yourself. Are pay for play sessions really educational tools? Does this sort of thing teach you not to own and breed these precious animals? Does it make you want help preserve the species in the wild? At what cost do we want our entertainment? Think about what these cubs have to look forward to when they are too old to be held (which is at 12 weeks of age). They will spend the rest of their lives in a cage no bigger than a parking space. How is that good for the species? Let's stop these pay for play sessions now! Check out my links at the bottom of this page to find your local representative and tell them how you feel, or go to catlaws.com to send prewritten forms to legislators letting them know this has to stop.

Just A Little Happiness

So, here is a little happiness for your day. I love this video! And I love this non-profit sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue. They are the greatest champion for big cats here in the U.S. I hope you enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlN8a25NXiI

The Zoo

Thinking about the circus has gotten me to thinking about the zoo. What does the zoo do to help conserve and preserve our wildlife? Especially the big cats. I would love to hear from people about their zoo's program for conservation, preservation, or education. I know the zoo in my hometown isn't up to par. I would much rather see more natural and larger enclosures for the big cats. I have never had an experience at our local zoo when there has been a guided tour educating people about the animals. Does your zoo do that? I would like to see more zoos educating the public with tour groups. There are far too many zoos that keep their animals in tiny enclosures, which provides no benefit to the animal and gives the public the impression that it is okay to keep these wild animals in such small homes. We want to change the way the public views these animals, not as pets that can be locked in tiny cages, but as wild animals that should be respected. The only way that we can convince the public that it is not okay to keep these animals in such inhumane conditions is to change the way they see the accredited zoos and sanctuaries treating them. Let's start by asking our local representative to make stricter laws about the way accredited zoos and sanctuaries keep their animals. Check out my link at the bottom of the page to find your local representative and start making a difference today!

Circus Fun?

Going to the circus can be one of the biggest events in a child’s life, and one of the worst for the big cats and other animals used in the circus. Do you ever think about the animals in the circus? What kind of conditions are they subjected to? How are they trained? I know I never thought about it, until now. Tigers and lions and the other animals of the circus are often trained with inhumane methods. Often the animals are beaten, starved and confined for long periods of time in order to get them to cooperate with what the trainers want. And life on the road means most of the animal’s life is spent in a circus wagon in the back of a semi-truck or in a crowded, stinking box car on a train or barge. The cages the big cats are kept in are often only 4 feet by 6 feet by 5 feet. These animals deserve better. Let’s educate our children about saving these animals, not exploiting them for our entertainment. I know we aren't going to be able to ban the circus, and we don't want to, but what we need to do is to have the animals removed from circus acts. There are many successful circus acts that do not use animals, for example: Cirque du Soliel, Hawaii's Volcano Circus, and The Mexican International Circus, just to name a few. Let's work together to change the way the circus operates. By voicing our concerns to our local lawmakers we can begin to enact laws that prohibit the use of animals in circus acts. In the meantime, we can do our part by simply boycotting the circus acts that do include animals and spread the word to others about what really goes on behind the scenes.
I think this video may say it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y6WKI8eKI4

Big Cat Rescue

Here's a link to a video made by one of my favorite organizations. They are doing so much good for so many big cats! This video will help to teach you a little bit about what is going on in the U.S. I just have to say BRAVO to Carole Baskin for helping to save hundreds of big cats! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n80OuEA2f3w

Banning Ownership of Big Cats

The only way to stop the abuse of big cats in captivity is to ban private ownership. Trying to “regulate” the conditions under which the cats are kept by private owners is simply impossible. There are only about 80-100  inspectors to monitor more than 10,000 facilities. So, while it sounds good to have regulations governing how big cats are kept and treated, the degree to which the regulations can be enforced is severely limited by the cost of manpower needed for enforcement. The simple fact is that trying to regulate conditions under which big cats are kept is totally impossible. Overwhelming evidence shows that despite the regulations there are thousands of animals kept in inhumane conditions such as, chain link enclosures no bigger than a parking space with only concrete under their feet. Banning of private ownership is just the right thing to do.

To find out what laws your state currently has on owning big cats please go to: http://bornfreeusa.org/b4a2_exotic_animals_map.php

You can change the law. All you have to do is speak out.

 

Save the Tigers

What am I talking about when I say, let's save the big cats? I am talking about finding a way to stop atrocities that are going on in our back yard and finding a way to preserve the wild habitat these animals come from.

Let's Start with the Tiger:

It starts with breeders who breed “generic” tigers (inbred, crossbred, or otherwise not purebred). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created a “generic” tiger loophole which essentially states that unless you are a legitimate AZA   accredited zoo, which must adhere to conservation breeding laws, then you can breed, exploit, and discard tigers at will and with virtually no oversight. These “generic” tigers are used for pay for play sessions where the public pays to pet or pose with a baby tiger or lion cub. Once they are too big to play with they are discarded into the pet trade, warehoused in tiny ,barren cells or worse; ending up on a dinner menu, skinned or stuffed or disappearing into the black market trade. No money the public spends to pet or take photos with tiger or lion cubs goes to conservation. In fact, the opposite is true. There is a huge and growing market for tiger parts. A dead tiger is worth up to $50,000 for its parts. Breeding what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls “generic” tigers like the ones in the mall exhibits is not tracked. So there is no way to know how many U.S. born tigers are killed to have their parts illegally sold into this trade. The more that trade expands, the more incentive the poachers in China have to kill tigers in the wild, citing that “if the U.S. can kill tigers, why can’t we?” We must lead by example. 

Some of these pay for play tigers end up in “canned hunts” that are designed to give a person a chance to kill an exotic animal for a trophy. A “canned hunt” is basically an animal in a cage being shot.These operations claim to offer only non endangered animals but provide a smokescreen to enable illegal activities such as hunting endangered animals. Today, sadly, there are more tigers in captivity than exist in the wild. There are thought to be 12,000 tigers in U.S. cages, 4,000 of which are in Texas. 90% of Tigers in the U.S. are in miserable roadside zoos, backyard breeder facilities, circus wagons, and pet homes. According to statistics released in 2009 there are 1,200 to 1,500 tigers left in the wild. Let’s stop supporting the tiger trade. Get the word out that pay for play sessions are NOT good for the animals and are NOT for conservation. Let’s make sure these beautiful creatures are around for our children’s children. It’s not too late. 

So, what can you do? Go to one of my links at the bottom of the page to help these big cats. Talk to your local Representative. There is also a link at the bottom of the page that will help you find your local Representative. Help change the laws by visiting catlaws.com. Go out and tell everyone you know about this blog. And most importantly: SPREAD THE WORD about what you have learned here!