Woman, pet kangaroo find new home at zoo

Christie Carr wants her young ones to cooperate when they sit down for a family portrait, but at times it’s so difficult that she has to tell young Irwin to go to his bedroom. He obeys and hops to it.

Irwin may sleep in a bed, wear boy’s clothes on occasion and eat Twizzlers, but he’s not human. He’s a red kangaroo, nursed back to health after he was partially paralyzed from running into a fence a few years ago.

Two years after battling a city council in northeastern Oklahoma over Carr’s right to keep a “therapy kangaroo,” she found Irwin a home at an exotic animal park. And Carr has found some relief from her depression.

On a recent weekday morning at The Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park, Irwin, fresh from playing in the dirt, sat on a cushy chair in a wooden pen next to Carr. He later fussed with his new sister, Larsen, a baby Siberian tiger, in the staff house.

The new home, Carr said, is good for both Irwin and herself. He’s able to interact with other people and some animals, and her emotional life is enriched by being around all the animals.

“Just me and him together, it’s almost like he was feeding off my depression,” said Carr, who lives in the zoo’s staff house. “He likes people, he likes to be around people and here, there is something always going on.”

Irwin, however, can’t play with the park’s other kangaroo, Pluto, who lives near a pond. Carr and zoo founder Joe Schreibvogel are scared Irwin could lose his balance and fall into the water, so they are hoping to build a new kangaroo enclosure in the future.

Carr and 3-year-old Irwin arrived at the zoo after spats with officials in Broken Arrow. Carr’s therapist had certified Irwin as a therapy pet under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But city officials initially feared Irwin could pose a threat to the public’s safety.

Native to Australia, healthy male great red kangaroos can grow up to 7 feet tall, weigh more than 200 pounds and bound 25 feet in a single leap. But veterinarians said Irwin would probably not grow larger than 50 pounds because of his injury and because he has been neutered. Irwin has gained about 20 pounds during the past two years and is now able to hop better.

The city council eventually voted to create an exotic animal ordinance exemption that allowed Carr to keep Irwin within city limits under certain conditions. The permit required exotic animal owners to, among other things, have a $50,000 liability insurance policy for any injuries inflicted by the animal, certification that the animal has adequate housing and meet all federal and state guidelines for licensing. An anonymous donor paid for Carr’s insurance policy.

But growing frustration with city officials caused Carr to move herself and Irwin first to Claremore, then to her parents’ home in McAlester and, in March, to the zoo.

“We called her up and offered her a place to stay and Irwin a zoo to hang out with a bunch of other animals, and they’ve been here ever since,” said Schreibvogel, who founded the zoo, which is named after his brother who died in a car accident in 1997.

The park has close to 800 animals — the majority came from sanctuaries and other zoos — and 18 workers. It’s a place, Schreibvogel said, where animals and humans come for a second chance.

“Most of the volunteers here are ex-druggies, ex-alcoholics, on prison’s door step,” he said. “Why do people turn to drugs and alcohol? Usually because they don’t fit in somewhere. Well, here these animals don’t judge you.”

Schreibvogel, who looks a bit out of place in the Oklahoma countryside with his bleach-blonde hair, earrings and eyebrow ring and arm full of tattoos, is trying to become a country singer. Known as Joe Exotic, he recently released three songs with music videos and has a reality TV show pilot filming soon, which will feature Irwin and other animals at the park.

Schreibvogel and Carr bonded over the backlash they’ve both received from animal-rights groups. They say it has helped them get to where they are.

“Everybody has an opinion, and everybody has a right to an opinion,” Schreibvogel said. “If they would have euthanized him three years ago, he wouldn’t be walking around, hopping now, so not everyone knows what they are talking about.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.