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'Tiger King' was real life for local man (warning: spoilers ahead)

Findlay's Josh Bethel traveled the country with Joe Exotic, suffering highs and lows on his wild ride.

FINDLAY, Ohio — In 2009, Josh Bethel of Findlay was dancing with friends at a drag bar in Toledo when Joe Maldonado-Passage approached him.

"He picked me out and saw that I was short and flexible and saw that I could fit into the magic assistant's boxes," Bethel says matter of factly.

It would normally be a bizarre statement. But this statement was made by Maldonado-Passage, more famously known as Joe Exotic, the subject of a Netflix documentary, "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."

On that September night, Joe Exotic was in the middle of his exotic animals tour. He was traveling the United States with his tigers and other animals. People could get pictures taken with the animals before and after a magic show. He was in town for a show at Levis Commons in Perrysburg.

"I remember getting a lot of emails, coming to us because we were the main contact, from PETA and various animal protection agencies about this show," former Levis Commons marketing manager Allison Schroeder says.

The emails were a concerted effort by animal rights activist Carol Baskin to shut down Joe Exotic's shows.

The feud between Joe Exotic and Baskin is the key plot line in "Tiger King."

But none of that was known to Bethel before he agreed to join Joe Exotic's national tour.

Credit: Josh Bethel
Josh Bethel, left, stands next to 'Joe Exotic' during a performance.

"On the tour, we only had $300 or $400 budget for the week at a hotel. If someone didn't sponsor us, we'd be at really low budget, gross hotels, and we'd be no less than four people in a room," Bethel says.

 The conditions were even worse at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma. The zoo was home to over 50 species of animals and 200 big cats, including tigers, puma, and lions, over 16 acres.

"When people say Joe didn't care about his animals ... we worked from 7 in the morning to midnight or 1 o'clock to make sure that the animals were right, were fed, and the place was clean," Bethel says. "So I completely disagree with that."

Credit: Josh Bethel
Josh Bethel nuzzles with a black bear while working as part of the Joe Exotic staff.

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Baskin was the key player in making claims that Passage was not caring for his animals. She fought a high-profile battle to shut down his road show and zoo. In return, Joe Exotic used every opportunity he had to spread rumors that Baskin had killed her first husband and fed him to her tigers. Don Lewis disappeared in 1997. Baskin reported him dead and has never been charged in his death.

In 2019, Passage was convicted of trying to hire someone to kill Baskin. Bethel believes his former boss is innocent of the accusations.

"I think if Carol can get away with killing her husband, she can get away with plotting a murder for hire for herself," Bethel says.

When asked if he really believes Baskin was involved in the death, Bethel doubles down.

"I do, he says. "And we all had a hate for Carol. She was attacking the park, and we loved the park. The reptile house burned down. We would find dead animals on the lawn. It was a vicious feud."

For two years, Bethel's life was chaos - crowded buses, terrible living conditions, and 18-hour days helping to care for a zoo filled with exotic animals. He says he was fired in 2011 after he was caught taking pictures at the zoo. He says he had given his two-week notice, but was asked to leave after being caught taking pictures.

He jokes that it feels as though he has PTSD while watching the documentary but says he probably would do it all over again if he had the chance.

"It had its ups and downs, but I wouldn't change it for the world. How many people get to work with exotic animals for their job?" Bethel says. "I've been in contact with a lot of people I worked with there. It's just so weird to watch the documentary, because we were there."

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