WELCOME TO ANIMAL MAGIC’S STORY PAGE!
For your convenience, we have copied several Internet articles related to Animal Magic and pasted them to this document. They are in backward chronological order (starting from the most recent). Please feel free to send us links to stories you come across! Enjoy!
Letter to the Editor, Belleville Area Independent, May 22, 2008
We Have an Angel Among us in Sumpter
We have an angel among us in Sumpter. As many of you have heard by now, there was a swan at Crosswinds Marsh that has had a fishing lure embedded in him for at least the past few weeks, as well as a bunch of fishing line wrapped around him and one of his back legs.
Channel 4 ran a story on it, as did the Detroit News. It seems no one could, or would, help the poor thing. I personally called three different humane societies, the DNR, and the police.
I also talked to the manager at Crosswinds and was told that he has been going out in a canoe every morning but that he can’t get close enough to the swan to help him. The DNR told me that they won’t help because swans are not native to Michigan…they consider them an “exotic species.”
All three humane societies said that they don’t rescue animals like that (real humane, huh?) Well, Sumpter police put me in touch with Mark Rosenthal, our local exotic animal expert. You have probably seen him perform (Animal Magic) at the Strawberry festival and at all the local schools. Mark showed up within an hour of being called on a Friday night and had the lure removed and the fishing line cut off an removed within 30 minutes!
He somehow caught the swan with his bare hands while he was still in the water by having a bystander entice it with some bread. He told everyone to get back (because swans have very powerful wings) as he lifted the swan onto the dock (while still managing to keep himself dry!).
He used wire cutters that he had brought along to cut the hook from the lure that was embedded in the swan. He then pulled the remaining piece through and out of the swan.
He then straddled the swan while he attempted t remove the fishing line that was severely cutting off circulation to his leg. It was wrapped around so many times and so tight that he didn’t think he could cut it all off without injuring the swan, but he did.
He massaged the back leg until he was pretty sure that the circulation was getting through and he then said he was going to let him go.
The swan jumped off the dock and back into the water where it went out about two feet and then turned around.
I will never forget the sight that we all witnessed. He rose up out of the water and started flapping his wings, as if to say thank you.
I have been coming here every day for over a month to feed this remarkable creature and I have never seen him do that. We all knew that he was thanking Mark for saving his life.
He then swam out to the island where his mate was sitting on their eggs. He hasn’t been able to climb up out of the water in weeks, due to his back leg being tied up, but he was finally able to rejoin her and he looked and acted so happy.
I talked to Mark for quite a while in the parking lot as he was leaving and I tried to give him some money for helping save this swan’s life. He wouldn’t accept anything and he said he doesn’t do it for the money, he does it for the animals. He thanked me anyway.
He said he was as happy as everyone there that he got to see this miracle bird swim away, flap his wings again and rejoin his mate. Since the swan can’t write, I just wanted to publicly thank Mark for all of his efforts and in everything his organization does. He did what no one else would even attempt to do. I truly believe that there is a special place in heaven for this young man.
Luwanda Page
Sumpter Township
This weekend, Event Center a wild kingdom
Saturday, May 03, 2008
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Mark Rosenthal didn't mind when a 110-pound albino Burmese python curled around his body at the Mid-Michigan Pet & Family Expo.
''It's nothing,'' he said. ''I'm used to animals crawling all over me. I have wounds and bites all over my body. I have no fear.''
The exotic animal expert and presenter at the three-day expo that began Friday admitted his love for exotic animals can turn dangerous, but he said the risk is worth it for educational purposes.
His wildlife show, Mark Rosenthal's Animal Magic, is a blend of education, comedy and magic that features exotic animals such as porcupines, tortoises, alligators, snakes, iguanas and even a sloth, a slow-moving mammal that lives in trees.
''I show things you could only see on television or in the movies. We bring out all kinds of exotic animals,'' said Rosenthal, 45, of Belleville in Wayne County.
He will give additional shows at noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. today at TheDow Event Center, 303 Johnson in downtown Saginaw. Sunday's shows are at
1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The expo runs from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to
6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for children 6 to 12. Sponsors are The Saginaw News and The Bay City Times.
SAINT JOHN - Jack Hanna, well known for his appearances on TV talk shows trying to educate people about wild animals, says Wednesday's theft of a callimico Goeldi is akin to stealing the rarest of rare paintings.
Rick Prebeg Photo
Wildlife expert Jack Hanna says it would be difficult to sell April, the callimico Goeldi monkey stolen from the Cherry Brook Zoo.
"It's like stealing a Rembrandt," Hanna said Thursday from California, where he was getting ready to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. "It's worse than that."
Thieves broke into the monkey house at the Cherry Brook Zoo in the early morning hours Wednesday and stole April, a baby monkey that was born there as part of an endangered species program last year.
"The point is, what are they going to do with it? They can't breed it," said the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio and TV show host.
Hanna said the zoo should take further steps to secure the remaining three monkeys because the thieves could return looking for a breeding partner. Trying to get the monkey out of Canada, he said, would be an almost impossible task.
"It's like taking a huge bazooka through airport security. I would try any of that stuff before I try and sell a Goeldi monkey. I can't describe how difficult that would be."
With only 1,000 of the monkeys in the wild and captivity, Hanna called it a huge blow considering the female monkey was on the verge of sexual maturity.
"To me extinction of an animal is more critical than a Rembrandt," Hanna said. "So you can't put a value on this loss.
"I'm sitting here trying to figure out why somebody would do it."
Mark Rosenthal is also scratching his head over the news. His 10-acre animal sanctuary located outside of Detroit, Mich., was the target of thieves in 2007.
"I thought it was one of my employees because it was the first theft that we had, and this is the weirdest thing, every cage that they stole from they shut the doors behind them," Rosenthal said.
He said the doors were shut as if it was out of habit, just like the theft at Cherry Brook.
"It sounds like somebody knew what they were doing," he said of the Cherry Brook Zoo theft. "They went in for a specific animal."
Rosenthal said he's often called by police to help remove exotic pets from the homes of busted drug dealers.
"That would be a neat animal for a drug dealer to have," he said.
Eventually Rosenthal caught the thieves after seeing a picture of one of his animals on a webpage. The gutsy crooks were giving endangered species shows using his animals and name. When police raided two homes outside Flint, Mich., they found makeshift zoos inside.
Rosenthal got his beloved sloth and kinkajou back and a number of other animals. Police recovered 69 animals from the two homes. From snakes to toucans, the thieves had been on a furry, feathered and scaly crime spree from Michigan to South Carolina to Florida. The members of the animal theft ring were arrested and each face up to 10 years in jail.
The Cherry Brook's Zoo's Goeldi monkey was barely a year old. Its home is the rainforests of South America.
"Like a Rembrandt or a Picasso, there's people willing to pay for it that are going to have it in their personal collection, but nobody is ever going to see it," Rosenthal said.
Sadly, he said, if the animal is in the possession of a drug dealer, its days are numbered when it begins to behave like a monkey - screeching through the night or biting.
"They're just going to kill it or get rid of it."
Linda Collrin, the director of Cherry Brook Zoo, said she spent Wednesday night listening to the thunder and lightning storm wondering if the tiny monkey was safe. She woke up Thursday morning hoping to find a box on her doorstep with the monkey inside.
"People are looking and we need to keep (the issue) out there," she said.
Hanna said he'll help spread the word.
"The zoo world will know about it immediately, because as of right now I'm going to start telling people about it," Hanna said. "You won't be able to sell it to anybody."
Woman sentenced in exotic animal thefts
By Austen Smith, Editor
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
One of three individuals arrested in last year's theft of exotic animals from a Sumpter Township sanctuary received three months jail time, two years probation and was ordered to pay $35,000 in restitution during a sentencing held Monday in Detroit. Julie Marie Lock, of Flint Township, was the first of the trio to be sentenced for the theft of more than 70 exotic animals in an operation that extended from Michigan to Florida. Lock, 22, along with her husband Adam Lock, 23, and accomplice Joshua Roberts, 24, were arrested after a raid of their Mundy Township home where investigators found most of the stolen animals. They also had an apartment in Flint where a number of stolen reptiles were being held.
Lock pleaded down to one felony count after originally being charged with six. Lock has been in jail since Genesee County since the time of her arrest and those days will count toward her jail time.
Several of the stolen animals came from Mark Rosenthal's Animal Magic Sanctuary including a rare seven-toed sloth, a fennec fox, an exotic toad and a kinkajou (a fox-like mammal from the raccoon family). Rosenthal, who attended Monday's sentencing, said his sloth, named "Seven," is now recovering after he was returned several months after the theft, but his stolen wallaby died as a result of mistreatment and the kinkajou fox had to have its tail amputated because of a broken bone. Rosenthal, a long-time exotic animal handler licensed in the state of Michigan, does shows for schools, festivals and events.
"What they did has affected my family, my business. We lost shows because of them. Some people would request to have Seven, so we couldn't do the show," Rosenthal said. "I'm just glad it's done now and that she is serving jail time."
Rosenthal said during the sentencing, Lock apologized for the damage that she had caused and that a number of family members were present for her support. Despite the apology, Rosenthal asked that Lock not be allowed to have any contact with animals during her probation period, which the judge granted.
After a long investigation by Sumpter Township police, Rosenthal said that he stumbled on a Web page titled "ThoseAnimalGuys.com," and saw photos of his stolen animals. Soon after, the Locks' home was raided by Mundy Township law enforcement in coordination with Sumpter and Livonia police.
Adam Lock is currently awaiting sentencing, and Roberts is locked up in a Genesee County jail on unrelated charges.
Joshua D. Roberts and Julie Lock agree to plea deal in thefts of exotic animals
Posted by The Flint Journal February 27, 2008 16:05PM
Categories: Courts, Crime, Exotic animal thefts, Police
Left to right: Julie Lock, Adam Lock
and Joshua Roberts
Detroit -- Two defendants in an exotic animal theft case will learn their fate on St. Patrick's Day.
Joshua D. Roberts of Mundy Township and Julie Lock of Flint Township have agreed to plea deals in three Wayne County cases involving stolen animals.
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss most of the charges in exchange for guilty pleas to two felonies, said Lock's attorney, Philip H. Beauvais III of Flint.
The breaking and entering and larceny felonies carry 10-year prison terms, but Beauvais said sentencing guidelines for Lock call for no more than 11 months.
"It's really sad," said Beauvais. "She's a really nice bright young lady who got caught up in a situation with her husband and his friend." An attorney for Roberts could not be reached for comment.
The March 17 sentencing, however, will not be the last court appearance for the pair.
Roberts and Lock, along with Lock's husband, Adam, still face extradition to Florida to face charges involving stolen Toucans. Roberts and Lock also face charges in Genesee and Saginaw counties, while Lock's case in Wayne County is ongoing. The trio were arrested in November after raids on their homes turned up about 70 stolen animals, including a kinkajou and a wallaby.
Julie Lock is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail, while her husband is in the Saginaw County Jail. Roberts is free on bond.
More court dates coming for Genesee County residents charged in exotic animal thefts
by Bryn Mickle | The Flint Journal
Monday February 25, 2008, 8:32 PM
Joshua Roberts
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Court dates continue to pile up for a Flint Township couple and a Mundy Township man charged in an exotic animal theft scheme that stretched to Florida.
While their alleged partner, Joshua Roberts, remains free on bond, Adam and Julie Lock are locked up in county jails -- Adam in Saginaw and Julie in Wayne.
Police said November raids on their homes resulted in the discovery of nearly 70 stolen exotic animals, including a Brazilian parrot, a wallaby and kinkajou.
In the weeks after the raids, charges have been sought in several communities, including;
• Flint Township, where police allege Roberts hid inside a Petco store on Miller Road last October and, along with Adam Lock, stole $10,000 worth of flea and tick medicine.
Adam Lock
-- Bridgeport Township, where Roberts and Adam Lock allegedly broke into a zoo and stole several tortoises and other animals.
• Sumpter Township, where the owner of an animal sanctuary said police compiled a 71-page report alleging Roberts and the Locks broke in and stole numerous animals.
• Livonia, where the three face charges in connection with break-ins at two pet shops.
The trio also face criminal charges in Florida where the Marion County Sheriff's Department intends to seek extradition.
A woman there claims someone stole six toucans, including four that were valued at $12,500 each.
Four of the birds were found during the November raids and the Locks and Roberts now face felony theft and burglary charges in Florida.
The same woman who reported her toucans stolen told police she had purchased some of the tortoises, unaware that they were stolen.
Jule Lock
Prior to their arrest last year, Roberts and Adam Lock had partnered together for an animal exhibition group called "Those Animal Guys."
The pair's notoriety helped Flint Township police identify them in the Petco burglary after workers recognized the pair on surveillance video taken shortly before the store closed for the night.
Roberts was allegedly seen walking into the store wearing black clothing that matched that of a man wearing a ski mask who set off a motion detector after the store closed.
Township police believe Roberts and Adam Lock needed flea and tick medicine for all of the stolen animals.
"They took the whole display," said Flint police Sgt. Gene DuBuc.
Roberts has pleaded guilty in the Flint Township case and is scheduled to be sentenced March 11. Adam Lock has not been arraigned yet because he has been jail.
A trial date for Roberts in the Livonia case is set for March 18 while a Wednesday hearing in that case is set for the Locks in Wayne County
Exotic animals found after bust
Rosenthal Googled "animal acts" and spotted his animals
By William Zilke, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: November 15, 2007
Adam Lock, 23, his wife Julie Marie Lock, 22 of Flint Township, and alleged accomplice Joshua Roberts, 24, of Mundy Township, were arrested Nov. 8 in raids in two homes in Genesee County.
More than 70 exotic animals were confiscated at the Flint Township home by several Michigan police agencies working on the case. The home contained birds and mammals and only had pine shavings on the floor for urine and feces and holes were punched in the walls to install make shift perches for Toucans and other exotic birds.