On October 9th, GW park volunteers headed north to rescue eleven animals from a park forced to close near Tulsa. "The owner did not want to see his residents go, but his facility just simply ran out of funding. He called us, knowing his animals would have a safe, secure home here in Wynnewood," said Joe Schreibvogel, Director of the G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park.

Four lions, three of which are under a year old, a leopard, four tigers, a fox and an African guinea pig arrived in a cattle truck donated for the day by C&W Cattle Co. of Amarillo, Texas. "I don't know what we would have done without the help of C&W Cattle Co. Because of their generosity, we were able to pick up eleven animals in one trip, minimizing stress for both the animals and for us," added Schreibvogel. 

JD Ace, Assistant Park Director, welcomes Maddy to his new home.

"We are now full…no vacancies, until we receive more sponsors for expansion," he added. The park has been feverishly building to accommodate several new residents, including three Siberian bears that came into the park in August. Lyra, Tesh and Franc are doing well. Not only have they gained considerable weight, they are much more active and obviously deliriously happy! "They have recovered much more quickly than we expected," said Joe when asked about the bears. " I figured on 6 months, but in less than three they have done very well." Thanks to your generous donations, not only were Franc, Tesh and Lyra saved, but your donations funded new homes for 11 more bears and cats.

Murlin, a spotted leopard, is a wee bit shy, as he is still getting used to his new home.	Lyra, now a healthy 350 lbs, weighed in at 65 lbs when she arrived at the park in August.

ACI UNIT RESPONDS TO LOCAL SHELTER

The newly formed Animal Cruelty Investigation Unit from the G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park responded on Friday, October 5th, to a complaint of conditions at the local animal shelter in Wynnewood. An anonymous call was received at the G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park at about 2 pm on Friday. Within the hour, investigators Joe Schreibvogel and JD Ace arrived at the shelter to find several cats in iron cages suspended on cinder blocks, some with no food or water available to them. In one cage there were three kittens in very bad shape. One was found to be dead, one was alive, and the other was unconscious. Despite the efforts of the investigators, "...the unconscious kitten died before arriving at the local veterinarian's office," where it was taken, according to Joe Schreibvogel, Animal Cruelty investigator.

The Animal Park's Investigation unit filed a felony animal cruelty complaint with the Wynnewood police and the Garvin County District Attorneys office. The District Attorneys office, with the cooperation of the Wynnewood City Clerk, asked that for their safety, the remaining animals in the shelter be removed pending the outcome of the investigation. To date, this issue has not been settled as local officials have not yet formally charged the shelter.

This is the third complaint investigated by the volunteer ACI unit at the G.W. Park. Both previous complaints did not result in any animal cruelty violations. If you witness what you believe to be animal abuse, you may call the G.W. Exotic Animal Park at (405) 665-5197 and register a complaint with the investigators. 

My heart goes out to each and every one of you that helped make this park become what it is today. Not only am I proud to be the Park Director, my heart swells with pride when I think of the thousands of you who place your trust in me to help rescue and care for these animals, so that they may live here in peace. Some people say there is a spirit watching over this park, and some visitors get chills when they walk among the animal compounds at our facility. I believe that there are at least 19 spirits watching over this park because we have 19 memorials here, all dedicated to the loved ones for whom the compounds were built. Kind blessings to all of you who have found it in your heart to reach out and save one of God's beautiful creatures in the name of a loved one. I believe that you cannot get much closer to being a guardian angel than by performing an act of kindness such as this. Within the next three years, this park will be world famous, because of the acts of love that are performed here in the name of good people such as you. Words cannot express my thanks ….God Bless ya and keep spreading the word. Joe Schreibvogel Park Director

Sabrina, Sasha's Spirit and Sambo have a brand new habitat, complete with a 20,000-gallon pond in which to frolic and play. "This is something you MUST see," said Schreibvogel. Tiger Island is in need of a sponsor. If you are interested, please see our insert

Flags hung at half-mast on October 14th, in honor of the park's anniversary. The park was founded in memory of G.W. Schreibvogel, who perished in a car accident in 1997. This beautiful facility, filled with life and love, is a living memorial to G.W., who cherished life and family.

Animals Talk Politics

Kittens at the Wynnewood Shelter lived in horrid conditions.  Here, an unconscious kitten lays next to one already dead, while a third clings to life.

Even though the G.W. Exotic Animal Park receives unyielding support on a grand geographic scale, there are those at home in our small community who offer little support to our efforts. We have grown with leaps and bounds in the past two years and we have had great success spreading the word through our fundraising efforts and community education programs. Yet here, in our own town, we face situations such as that found at the Wynnewood Animal Shelter, where animals were barely surviving in squalid conditions. It was county officials who lent a hand in our ACI investigation, not local ones. No one is above animal cruelty and we at the park will do what we can to assure that local officials pay more attention to our own backyard. We ask that you keep this in mind for our next election in April of 2002. Give the animals here a voice…register to vote, and stay tuned for announcements on which candidates the park will endorse for the upcoming elections.

PARK WELCOMES ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Please join us in welcoming Justin (JD) Ace, from Pennsylvania, who has stepped in as our new Assistant Park Director at G.W. Exotic Animal Park. JD has been a volunteer for several months, and he was voted in by the Board of Directors in August to serve as one of our Animal Cruelty Investigators as well as Assistant Director.

AN ANIMAL'S CHRISTMAS WISH

All of the animals listed below are still waiting for a sponsor to build their habitats.  Won't you please be their Santa Claus this Christmas?

MONKEYS NEED YOUR HELP Construction on our Monkey Compound has stalled due to a funding shortfall. The project was begun when the park received an anonymous donation of $15,000 from a resident in Ardmore, but we have yet to add the heaters and electric necessary to complete the compound. In addition, the panels for the cage promised by another donor unfortunately fell through. If you would please help us out on this project, it would be greatly appreciated. Remember, tax time is just around the corner and all donations to the park are tax deductible.

PARK ANNOUNCES SPECIAL MEMBERSHIPS

If you would like to become an Honorary member of our Park family, consider a regular contribution of $1,000 per year to help provide food, medicine and housing for the animals at the park. If you would like to be among our Presidential membership donors, pledge $2,000 per year in support. All Honorary and Presidential members will be recognized at our annual luau banquet each year. Please see our inserts page for details.

Little Bear, right, is still a favorite among visitors to the park. Now she resides with Clint and Sierra, both baby tigers, in their own donated habitat, thanks to C&W Cattle Company. Here, Little Bear wears Joe's hat while she romps and plays.
	Oscar is a two-toed sloth, and one of our newest arrivals at the G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park. Come meet him today! Admission is a $5 tax deductible donation.