( CNN ) -- Exotic animals should live in the wild , not be exploited in profit-motivated zoos -- or worse â€ ” as `` pets '' or backyard oddities by people who have a deeply misguided sense of dominion or ownership . What happened in Ohio on Tuesday and Wednesday has drawn dramatic attention to the private possession of exotics , an issue that is a major component of Born Free USA 's mission to protect wildlife . On Wednesday , 56 exotic animals â€ ” including lions , tigers , bears , giraffes and wolves â€ ” were freed from their captivity at a rural residence outside Zanesville . Police report the animals ' `` owner , '' 62-year-old Terry Thompson , let the animals out of their cages before he killed himself . Forty-nine of the animals -- including 18 tigers and 17 lions -- were shot dead by law enforcement officers . Thankfully , other than Thompson 's death , no human injuries have been reported as a result of this situation . Ohio has had a recent flurry of incidents in which exotic animals being held by private individuals in or outside people 's residences have been involved in violent encounters with humans . In September , an 80-year-old man was attacked by a kangaroo at an exotic-animal farm in Green Camp . In June , an escaped `` pet '' grivet monkey scratched two girls while he was on the loose in Fremont . In August 2010 , a bear fatally mauled its caretaker on the owner 's property in Columbus Station . Born Free USA tracks such cases in our Exotic Animal Incidents Database . We list 86 incidents involving exotic animals in Ohio in recent years , and probably many other such encounters have gone unreported . Nationwide , our database lists nearly 1,600 incidents . There is no excuse for wild , potentially dangerous , exotic animals to be kept in private hands . Ohio is one of a handful of states with woefully few regulations on the books to govern such questionable close contact with wildlife , and Born Free USA has been pushing for years to get a stronger law enacted in the state . In 2006 , the Ohio Legislature quickly introduced a bill to restrict private possession of exotics after an Ashtabula County woman was mauled by a 500-pound black bear that escaped a pen kept by a nearby neighbor . The bill failed , and just four years later in 2010 , an emergency executive order was put in place after a 24-year-old man was mauled to death by a black bear kept in a Columbia Township compound . The order temporarily banned private ownership of big cats , bears , alligators , crocodiles and certain snakes . In April 2011 , the order expired upon the promise by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the governor that a new rule-making process would swiftly be established in order to implement regulations regarding possession of exotics . This still has not happened . What will it take to get swift action in the state -- and in other states around the country that lack complete bans on exotic pet ownership ? Will it take a bigger , more diverse animal escape ? A monkeypox outbreak ? People dying ? There is no need to wait , no need to take this kind of dramatic and incomprehensible risk . The drain on society from keeping exotic animals as pets is not insignificant . Humane societies , sheriff 's departments and wildlife sanctuaries end up bearing the brunt of the cost of placing these animals and giving them humane , lifetime care . In Texas , the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary provides permanent , safe , naturalistic and free-range accommodations for more than 500 macaques , vervets and baboons , many of whom have been rescued from captive lives of stress , deprivation and danger -- danger to both the monkeys and to their `` owners . '' Every chance we get , every day we come to work , in as many effective , forceful and creative ways we can , we encourage our members and supporters to spread the word that wild animals belong in the wild . What happened in Ohio this week is appalling . All those animals , imprisoned for no good reason . Their `` owner '' was apparently a tortured soul who took his own life and put the lives of nearby residents in peril through his bizarre act . And all those wandering animals , confused by their sudden and unfathomable `` freedom , '' were shot dead as though they were alien invaders in a safe bucolic land . None of that had to happen . It could have been avoided . Private possession of exotic animals is inexcusable and it puts human lives at risk . When will we , as a civilization , learn that wild animals are just as entitled to live freely on this planet as we are and it is our duty and obligation to ensure that this is possible ? Maybe , just maybe , the wildlife slaughter on the streets of Ohio will finally spur the change we need for safer and more compassionate communities across the country . He says 18 tigers and 17 lions were among them . Six animals were taken to the Columbus Zoo .
Will Travers : Exotic animals must not be exploited as `` pets '' or backyard oddities . The only way to stop this is by educating people about the dangers of animal abuse and how it can lead to a life long addiction, which in turn leads to more suffering for other living things Ohio slaughter of 48 wild animals , including 18 tigers and 17 lions , is appalling . Ohio has a record of violent encounters between animals and people , he says . `` Owning '' exotic animals inexcusable , he says , and also puts human lives at risk .