THE G.W. EXOTIC ANIMAL MEMORIAL PARK WAS FOUNDED IN 1997

Francis and Shirley Schreibvogel of Springer, Oklahoma, started the G.W. Exotic Animal Park and named it in honor of their son, Garold Wayne (G.W.) Schreibvogel, who was killed by a drunk driver outside Dallas, Texas earlier that year.

The park's mission is to provide lifelong homes for abandoned, misplaced and abused animals, as well as those animals whose owners can no longer care for them. To date, the park has rescued more than 1,400 animals and placed over 1,200 in zoos and sanctuaries around the world.

The park is licensed by the USDA as a zoo, open to the public seven days a week, 365 days a year. What makes the G.W. Exotic Animal Park so different are the more than 108 living memorials, serving as a place for others to come to remember loved ones they've lost. Each animal at the G.W. Exotic Animal Park represents a human who has passed away.

We make sure that they may receive the kindness, love, and respect they deserve while struggling to coexist in our environment, and to educate our peers on how they can promote environmental responsibility in order to help keep these species from becoming extinct and to preserve the fragile ecosystems we share.

There are many reasons why animals need to be rescued. The facility's conditions are deplorable, the animals are not healthy or the owner decides they do not want the animal any longer.

For whatever reason, the question is why you had the animal to begin with. The answer is usually – "I have a passion." A passion is great, however it also takes someone who is level headed... and Good Common Sense doesn't hurt either. So, before you go buy that lion, tiger, etc. Please take a good honest look at yourself and your surroundings. And please apply some of that common sense to the decision.

Now, on to our position on private ownership. Our position regarding private ownership is simply that we have no position. It is not our place to sit in judgment of others. We are neither a sanctioning body nor a regulating agency. We simply provide homes for unwanted big cats. But since a great many of the cats living at Tiger Haven have come from so-called private ownership, we feel that it is right and proper to let you know what you are getting into before you possibly cost an innocent cat his or her life.

Anyone who wants to possess a big cat should do so only with the knowledge of how to do it, and with the commitment to care for it properly for the duration of its natural life.

Such specialized knowledge can only come from experience. Big cats are dangerous. They can kill you. There is much to know about big cat behavior in general, and the species in particular, before you even entertain the thought of ownership. This knowledge cannot be obtained in the time it takes for a cub to become dangerous. It would be akin to learning to skydive having never seen a parachute until you jumped, and even more dangerous. Responsibility to care for the cat for the duration of its life can only come from having a location where you will not have to move, the ability to get the proper diet and veterinary care, an enclosure that is safe and large enough, and the financial ability to provide all this.