Interesting enough, the chatter on the Discovery Insider Blog has been relatively quiet, but I have a feeling it will explode once the show aires.
Here are the latest comments about the showing of Wild Animal Repo:
To the poster below:
This should give you a good idea of Scott Lopes background and training:
http://www.911animalabuse.org/bc_scandal.html
Posted by: WildlifeOnEasyStreet
05/05/2011 at 08:24 PM
What credentials does this joker have to be an "exotic animal repossesor"? I've worked my entire life with abandoned and abused animals and what little information I could find on this Scott Lope person is only that he managed a fraudulent rescue organization in Tampa, Florida? Where did he study zoology? Does he do anything but wear ill-fitting shirts and act (badly, I might add) like he knows what he's doing? A true disgrace indeed.
Discovery and Mr. Lope (I use this term very lightly) should be ASHAMED of themselves for exploiting animals in such a way. I, for one, will be contacting the sponsors of this show and voicing my opinion. I urge others to do the same.
Posted by: Tom
05/05/2011 at 08:06 PM
I have so much admiration for Scott and what he is doing for these defenseless animals!!
Posted by: Tom
05/05/2011 at 03:07 PM
I feel bad for Scott Lope because I know there's a lot of dirty laundry out there that is going to come back at him after this airs. I hope he and his boyfriend are prepared.
Posted by: former volunteer at BCAR
05/04/2011 at 11:40 PM
What I meant to say was "Scott knows a ton about animal care" I have to say that I was wrong about Scott and I can not wait to see the whole show!
Posted by: Tom
05/04/2011 at 10:21 PM
Fromw hat I saw in the videos, Scott Lope knows spit about animal care, too.
Posted by: Tom
05/03/2011 at 01:45 AM
Thank you Discovery for bringing back this show. I really am looking forward to seeing it. I am glad to see what a professional company you are and that you listen to the comments of all your viewers.
Posted by: Jen R
05/02/2011 at 01:19 PM
Scott will end up just like his mentor, Carole Baskin, who is headed for a fall. You cannot lie to the public and get away with it forever. Shame on Scott...and double shame on Discovery.
Posted by: Dee
05/02/2011 at 01:30 AM
http://www.rexano.org/REPO_Tigers.htm
Why Is The Discovery Channel Producing and Airing Jerry Springer-Like Animal Shows on TV?
The Untold Story Behind the “Wild Animal Repo”, WAR, “Six Tigers” Episode.
REXANO Editorial, May 2011
Back in January 2011, we reported on the inaccuracies with the Discovery’s WAR episode that was supposed to air on January 16th, 2011. WAR’s promos showed the “rescue” of capuchin monkeys from a soon-to-be demolished roadside zoo and the “rescue” of 22 bears from suspected breeders.
When many in the industry exposed the truth, that the monkeys and bears were from a Texas sanctuary that closed its door because of corruption and mismanagement, and the animals were NOT from a roadside zoo or a private exotic animal breeder, Discovery cancelled the show at the last minute. Now, unbelievably, the same show is scheduled to air on May 8th, 2011.
This time, Discovery changed WAR’s promo description of the bears’ rescue from that of a private breeder to that of a “financially troubled sanctuary”, yet continues to claim Lope rescued “a troop of capuchin monkeys from a soon-to-be-demolished roadside zoo”, even though the truth is the monkeys came from the very same “financially troubled sanctuary” as the bears!
By law, there is no such thing as ‘Exotic Animal Repossession”. Even though animals are property under the US legal system, the only time an animal confiscation can occur is when law enforcement officers are directed to do so by a court order.
Scott Lope is not authorized to confiscate or repossess anyone’s animals. For Discovery to pretend such a job exists, and the notion that Lope is ‘the man’ in what they call a ‘reality’ show, is a sure way to get lumped in with tabloid-style propaganda TV programming.
To this day, the untold story behind the WAR’s supposed rescue of “six tigers in flimsy cages” was not discussed—until now.
Background: The Untold Story
In May 1998, a pet cougar named Ranger bit a 4-year old boy in Wylie, Texas (Collin County). Multiple newspapers reported that the owner of the pet cougar was Vicky Marshall (now Vicky Keahey). The boy was treated in the hospital for several puncture wounds. As required by law, cougar Roger was quarantined for 45-days at the local animal shelter as a precaution to ensure he didn't have rabies.
Animal control officers tried to impound Marshall’s second pet cougar, Tahoe, as a precaution, since Tahoe and Roger had nose-to-nose contact, and by law, should have been quarantined for rabies as well. To prevent Tahoe being quarantined, Marshall took her pet cougar to her friends’ USDA licensed, exotic animal facility in Leona, TX.
At the time, Collin County authorities allowed residents to keep exotic pets only if they had a Federal USDA permit. Vicky Marshall supposedly didn’t have the required permit and was therefore in violation of County law. Marshall was given a misdemeanor citation for this violation.
When Marshall eventually secured her USDA exhibitor permit, so as to legally keep her pets, she was not only reunited with her pet cougars, but she also started buying pet tiger cubs as well. Marshall’s first white tiger was Kiro, bought in September 1999, from the same friend in Leona, TX, that cared for her cougar during Marshall’s time of need, as she sought the required USDA license. Back then, the going purchase rate for white tigers was around $10,000. So with just two pet cougars and at least one pet tiger cub, non-profit ‘In-Sync Exotic Wildlife Rescue and Education Center’ was born. It was around this time Vicky Marshall got married and became Vicky Keahey.
Recent Events
The Leona woman, who temporarily cared for Vicky’s cougar Tahoe, was diagnosed with cancer, and her life-saving treatments took a toll on her physical health, making it difficult for her to care for her six big cats. In 2010, she voluntarily decided, for the health and well-being of her animals, to transfer her six tigers to Vicky Keahey’s “In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center” in Wylie, Texas. The elderly woman’s Federal USDA inspection reports show no animal welfare violations just prior to the re-homing of her beloved tigers. The following USDA inspection report clearly stated she was voluntarily giving up her cats—they were not confiscated.
This was supposed to be an easy, late summer transfer of her animals from one USDA facility to another. Since the women knew each other and their animals for over a decade, it was supposed to be a quick, humane, ‘load up the tigers and drive away” situation. There was no rescue, no repossession, no confiscation, of these six tigers—just a simple, already pre-arranged, re-homing of the animals.
Prior to the actual “move date “, In-Sync was approached by the WAR filming crew. In exchange for filming the re-homing, In-Sync was allegedly offered several tens of thousands of dollars to be applied towards the care of the six tigers.
On Thursday, April 28th, 2011, In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center’s Facebook page responded to a query from one of its “friends” regarding Lope’s participation in the tigers’ so-called “rescue:”
“I’m afraid we can't comment on Scott Lope, but I do believe he is still a large part of the show. Unfortunately, had absolutely no input on the content of the show, we simply allowed them to come along and film our rescue of the 6 tigers, so we really don't know what the show will look like until we see it!”
In In-Sync’s own words, they simply allowed Scott Lope to film the animals’ trip from one USDA facility to another. Lope was NOT a rescuer; he was just “playing” one on TV.
The WAR Crew ‘Rescue’
In 2010, the staged tiger ‘reality’ filming happened on a 100 degree hot and humid August day. The transfer of animals was supposed to begin around 7AM so as to protect the animals from the searing Texas heat. According to our sources, the WAR crew supposedly didn’t show up until after 9AM, and did not conclude it’s filming until the early evening hours, mostly spending time filming footage of Lope posing and talking to the camera for hours on end, while animals were stuck sedated in transport cages, and overheating.
Veterinarians were present, but still, one older tiger supposedly almost died from over sedation and heat exposure. Eventually, ice was brought in and applied to the animals. It is still not clear to us why two Sheriff Deputies were on the scene at taxpayers’ expense. I guess we will have to wait and see for the explanation when the episode airs this week.
Conclusion
While we have only seen WAR’s promo of the supposed “tiger” rescue, which was originally aired in January of this year and not the entire show; we can only hope the elderly dying woman and her facility will be portrayed in an ethical, honest and dignified manner on the soon-to-be aired WAR episode. Anything other than the truth could worsen her health condition, as well as cause a possible public relations and legal nightmare for the Discovery Channel.
Scott Lope is NOT an animal “repo man.” He is just an “actor” and he did NOT “rescue” any of the tigers featured in the upcoming WAR episode. Plans to relocate the featured animals to new homes were made long before Lope showed up on the scene. Lope was simply along for the ride, nothing more, nothing less. To claim otherwise, not only discredits Lope and the Discovery Channel, but it also portrays real animal rescuers in a negative light. If Lope truly cared about the animals, he would have been honest about why the animals were re-homed from USDA facilities to other USDA-licensed facilities. We can only speculate that money and the promise of fame motivated Lope to grossly exaggerate the so-called animal “rescues” in the first place. I guess we will know for sure after viewing WAR’s season première this week.
Posted by: Zuzana Kukol
05/02/2011 at 12:54 AM
I can't wait for Discovery to slip off the edge with this one. Just learned new "stuff" about Scott... Should be an interesting time after it airs. They should have thought this one through first.
Posted by: Carol
04/29/2011 at 06:07 PM
I can't wait to see the show!!! Thank you Discovery for rescheduling this show.
Posted by: Jen R
04/29/2011 at 12:15 PM
First of all, Scott Lope is NOT a “repossessor.” He is just an “actor” playing a part in a two-bit reality show. Scott Lope did NOT “rescue” 22 bears from a Texas sanctuary. Plans to relocate the bears to Colorado were made long before Lope showed up on the scene. Lope was simply along for the ride, nothing more.
Lope also did not “rescue” the capuchin monkeys from a “soon-to-be demolished roadside zoo!” The monkeys came from the very same “financially troubled sanctuary” which closed its doors to the public last year—The Wild Animal Orphanage!! And just for the record this Texas sanctuary closed its doors due to corruption and mismanagement.
When will Discovery learn that lying to the public is wrong, plain and simple, wrong. If Discovery cannot tell the truth were the animals came from and under what circumstances they had to be RE-HOMED to other sanctuaries, then Discovery should just shut down. Lying to the public does not further anyone’s agenda except those who cannot “rescue” animals any other way but to lie to the public as to where the animals really came from. Stop destroying the credibility and integrity of REAL animal rescuers and start telling the truth for a change.
If you want to do a REAL story, then do a story on the rise and fall of The Wild Animal Orphanage. Now THAT is a story you can take to the bank!
Posted by: Former WAO Employee
04/29/2011 at 09:13 AM
I am looking forward to seeing Wild Animal Repo! I have known Scott for more than 10 years and he has always been an advocate for the animals. I was lucky enough to participate in the tiger rescue filmed for W.A.R. and I never saw anything that was faked. It's also my understanding that Scott is working with the individual permitted sanctuaries where animals in each rescue are being transported, so that covers the permits. I think things will become much clearer when the show airs and the conditions of the animals are seen.
Posted by: W.A.R. Supporter
04/28/2011 at 11:41 PM
All you exotic owners..cry cry cry.
What you do is a shame on animals and their welfare. Leave this country if you don't like that we are finally catching up to realize how other countires got it right and have banned chimps, tigers, lions as "pets." It is a no brainer indeed. Bye bye..i heard there are cheap islands in the gulf for all you wack jobs.
Posted by: zuzana love chimp
04/28/2011 at 07:00 PM
I got a note that Discovery might air Scott Lope's scam of a show next month. Shame on you Discovery !!!
Posted by: Scott
04/28/2011 at 03:47 PM
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