Joel Slaven

Joel Slaven has over five decades experience in the animal industry. His career started at the world-renowned Darby Dan Farms where he trained racehorses in Columbus, Ohio. Joel then began raising and training exotic animals at the Columbus Zoo for Jack Hanna. He has been the head animal trainer and show producer for parks such as Cypress Gardens, Silver Springs, Six Flags over Texas and Georgia, and Arabian Nights Dinner Theater. He was the animal expert for several television shows including the George and Alana show, Crook and Chase, Carol and Marilyn show, and Disney's 'Mickey Mouse Club'. His production work includes training animals for Disney's 'That Darn Cat' ‚'Rainmaker,‚' ‚'The Road to Wellville,' and ‚'Ace Ventura Pet Detective.' In 1997, Joel founded Joel Slaven's Professional Animals Inc. JSPA Inc. became the largest producer of domestic animal shows in the world, rescuing over 2,500 dogs, cats, pot-bellied pigs, ducks, pigeons, rats, skunks, exotic birds and animals from shelters across the country. They provided animal shows for Sesame Place, the Columbus Zoo, the Jacksonville Zoo, the State Fair of Texas, all four SeaWorld parks, Busch Gardens Tampa, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Many of his animals appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, ‚The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Good Morning America. JSPA rescued and trained the dogs for the Spring Spectacular with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and ‚'101 Dalmatians, the Musical,‚ that toured the United States from October 2009 until April 2010 performing at dozens of venues including Madison Square Gardens. Most of their shows have been recognized by IAAPA, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.Joel was the inaugural recipient of the 'Animal Hero Award' by the Pet Alliance of Central Florida in 2014. His shows and training have been written about in several publications from The Columbus Dispatch and Columbus Monthly Magazine, to USA Today and People Magazine. He has been a speaker for Iowa State University Veterinary students and Ohio State University Animal Science students. He has worked closely with Canine Companions for Independence both in Orlando, FL where he received the Golden Leash Award, as well as the New Albany, OH location. He is also proud to have initiated the canine program at Flying Horse Farms kids camp in Mt. Gilead, OH.