Beth Corley
Beth Corley
Beth Corley was just another cover for Joe Schreibvogel, but it appears that she got fed up and quit in December 2011. So why is there a traveling, cub petting act using her USDA license and soliciting donations in the name of GW Park?
We are betting that she doesn’t know her license is being used this way and would really like to hear from her.
She has a separate USDA license number of 73-C-0167 but uses the same physical location at Joe’s G.W. Exotics compound and on her website, TigersInNeed she uses photos of the G.W. Exotics cats, cages and grounds with a bogus Tampa, FL phone number that forwards back to the Wynnewood, OK site. If you query the OK Department of State you can see that Beth Corley does not have a business registered in OK as of 11/6/2010, that we could find, but that Joe Schreibvogel has 12 registered in his name and 1 registered in a mis spelling of his name, but all use the same physical address, several of the same board members (dead and alive or made up) and contact info. He can keep changing names, addresses and phone numbers, but he cannot eliminate the paper trail he has left behind in the public records for anyone who cares to search.
Pimping tiger cubs at Alton Mall
July 15, 2010–ALTON — Big cat lovers and the simply curious can watch, pet or get their photos taken this week with cuddly tiger cubs visiting Alton Square Mall.
“He was soft; he was cute,” said Catherine Hollis, 7, of Alton, who got her photo taken with one, 7-week-old cub as it devoured a baby bottle of milk. Catherine had her arm around the cub during the photo shoot.
Mother Amy Hollis pointed out to her daughter that “all cats act the same,” as the nearest baby tiger flopped down on a pillow after sniffing the perimeter of the huge cage. Catherine said she has two cats at home.
“One is kind of mean,” she said.
Her mother said the visit, on the first floor of Alton Square between Kirlin’s Hallmark and Payless Shoes, was worth their time.
“I thought it would be a neat experience,” Hollis said. “There is a big turnout.”
The cats, which will be at the shopping center through Sunday, are just a few of the 150 or so from the Tigers in Need refuge in Wynnewood, Okla. Welch’s Entertainment holds the tours to raise awareness about exotic animals and the dangers of purchasing them for pets, and to raise money for Tigers in Need.
The entourage includes two, 7-week-old tigers born after their mother was rescued, a 6-month-old Siberian mix — not available for petting — and a 22-month-old ring-tailed lemur.
At one point midday, a couple dozen people were milling about the area, peering at children petting the babies while a parent or grandparent shot photos, or looking at the variety of tiger-related merchandise.
It is free to walk inside the open, spacious area, but the cost is $25 for two people to go inside one of the large cages and pet one of the cubs. Staff-taken photos also are extra, with varying prices. People are not allowed to photograph the cats from outside the cages without making a donation.
The lack of publicity about the costs for petting the cats irritated some people who came to the exhibit, but others came expecting it would not be free.
“We went just for fun. They had a good experience; they are happy they got to learn something,” Rebecca Owens said about her children, Devon, 6, and Mikalah, 4, who drove over from St. Peters, Mo., to see the soon-to-be-big cats.
“It was kind of scary, but I liked it,” Devon said.
“It was nice to me; it was soft,” his sister chimed in.
When asked whether tigers make good pets, Devon wisely didn’t think so.
“They are too wild,” he said.
People entering and leaving the cages are required to sanitize their hands. They cannot pick up or hold the cubs, and the tips of the animals’ claws are trimmed to prevent anyone from getting scratched. The animals also get breaks every 10 or 15 minutes, said Beth Corley, co-founder of Welch’s Entertainment.
Corley said every animal at the refuge and on tour either was rescued in the United States — often, after being kept as exotic pets — or born at Wynnewood. Zoos only take tigers that are purebred with papers, she said. The cats also cannot be released, so many of them live their entire lives at the refuge.
By Linda N. Weller The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.
In the video below you can see Beth Corley mopping up the diarrhea that the cubs have sprayed all over the mall floor where mall patrons and toddlers are sitting.
