G.W. Zoo releases music video attacking animal ownership laws

USDA looking into video as part of investigation

Apr 07, 2014

VIDEO: Zoo's protest video depicts people hugging, petting tiger, lion and bear

WYNNEWOOD, Okla. —The owner of a controversial zoo is releasing a music video that takes shots at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and government regulations regarding exotic pet ownership.

The G.W. Zoological Park in Wynnewood is under federal investigation after a tiger attacked an employee last year -- but that didn’t stop the zoo from featuring the big cats interacting with people in their new video.

The owner of the G.W. Zoo, Joe “Exotic” Schriebvogel, sent KOCO a link to his video but he wasn’t at the park Monday to talk about it.
No one else on staff at the zoo would comment.
According to the facility’s website, the zoo is planning on taking in 30 more exotic animals that were taken away from their previous owners. They hope the new video will help raise the funds to pay for the project.

Schriebvogel, a self-proclaimed country music artist and owner of the zoo, is featured in the video asking for donations for the United States Zoological Association.

Also featured in the video are people hugging and petting tigers, a lion and a bear. Those in the video even lie down and cuddle with the big cats.

“A select group of animal owners’ rights are being stripped away,” Schriebvogel says in the video.
The video shows a man dressed like a sheriff taking a wolf away from a crying woman. The zoo suggests enforcement of unjust laws leads to animal deaths.
“The thing that lawmakers don’t understand is when you take an animal away from the only home it’s ever been in, it goes through a mourning process and 90 percent of the animals taken away end up dying,” Schriebvogel said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said the new video takes it too far. “Joe Schriebvogel's video isn't just a pathetic attempt to mislead the public about the peril and cruelty of privately owning exotic animals -- it was also likely illegal to make, wrote Delcianna Winders, PETA Foundation’s deputy general counsel.
"Direct contact between the public and dangerous wild animals, as apparently shown in the video, is a violation of federal law, and PETA will be filing complaints.”

The USDA said it is looking into the video as part of an ongoing safety investigation.

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