Mother Jones has uncovered photographic evidence of mistreatment and neglect of animals behind the scenes of Animal Planet's hit reality show Call of the Wildman, a pattern first exposed in our seven-month investigation published on January 21. Additional documents we obtained also raise questions about whether the show operated in violation of Kentucky wildlife regulations. The latest revelations include:
- A photo obtained by Mother Jones from a person who worked on the production shows a coyote that was captured at the request of producers and held in a cramped trap for an unknown period of time prior to filming on location in Kentucky, according to the person who provided the photo. By the time of the shoot, according to two people who worked on the production, the coyote was "sick and unresponsive" and had to be replaced.
- According to internal production documents and communications obtained by Mother Jones, the show quickly brought in a replacement coyote for the shoot from Ohio. Kentucky law, with rare exception, forbids the importation of coyotes.
- According to internal documents and data analysis of the photo, the sick coyote had been held captive for more than three days after it was trapped by a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator working for the show. Without a specific permit—which the NWCO working for the show did not have—Kentucky regulations forbid holding captured wildlife for more than 48 hours.
- Mother Jones has also obtained government documents showing that state wildlife regulators began warning the show's star about violations in March 2012—more than a year before Sharp Entertainment, the producer of the show, says that it first became aware of complaints about animal mistreatment in connection with Call of the Wildman. see the entire story: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/03/animal-abuse-coyote-call-of-the-wildman-animal-planet
Please sign and share this petition to demand that the producers responsible for this are fired and prosecuted to the full extent of the law!
To Mr. John S. Hendricks and Mr. David M. Zaslav:
I cannot begin to tell you how upseting it was to read the Mother Jones article depicting your treatment of wild Coyote for the sole purpose of making a buck! You are supposed to be on the other side of Animal Welfare issues, supporting the well being of animals and not causing their abuse!
The undersigned demand that the producers of "Call of the Wildman" be punished and fined according to the laws of Kentucky, and fired by your company, and that you publicly apoligize and vow to never allow this type of behavior to occur again in the filming of any of your shows!
