Ohio animal tragedy: Why do people own exotic pets?

Many exotic pet owners, like Terry Thompson in Zanesville, Ohio, are hobbyists, which means they don't often have the experience needed to tend to the needs of the animals.

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“If that guy had that many dogs or cats on his property, he would be looked at as a hoarder. But because he had a menagerie and carried himself almost as a zoo operator, somehow that’s considered better,” Roberts says.

Others who live close to exotic animals tend to be men who “want the biggest, baddest animal on the block,” Roberts says. Certain dog breeds such as German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Dobermans used to fit the bill, but in recent years, due to the relative ease in most states of securing larger animals, animals like panthers, tigers, and lions have taken their place.

A third type of exotic animal owner is someone who “feels genuine love for the animals and wants them as surrogate children,” says Roberts. “There are people who keep non-human primates and treat them as if they’re their own children, let them sleep with them and dress them in human clothes as a replacement for the human children they never had,” he says.

Lax state laws coupled with an urge to own an exotic creature is often a death sentence for both the owners and their pets. Animal care experts insist that private ownership is a public health and safety issue because the animal’s behavior is often misunderstood and their health misdiagnosed by their owners who are ill equipped to be tending to their care.


Their owners “really love these animals but they’re loving them to death," says Tim Harrison, director of Outreach For Animals, a rescue operation in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Harrison, a former police officer, was one of the emergency responders to the Thompson property late Tuesday.

"I’ve never heard of a happy ending for anyone owning a large, dangerous predator. It’s like bringing a time bomb in your house and turning it on and never knowing when it will go off,” Mr. Harrison says.





Reality television is not helping that cause. Shows featuring professed animal experts like Jack Hanna, Jeff Corwin, and Steve Irwin often glamorize up-close encounters with animals that otherwise should not be domesticated. The popularity of television shows and video games like “Awesome Possum” and “Fatal Attractions” have only increased ownership of exotic animals, Harrison says.

When wild animals like alligators or tigers are ushered onto talk shows, they are often “surgically altered or sedated,” says Harrison, which creates a misconception that the animals can work well in domesticated environments.

“[People] think they can do what their heroes do on TV. It’s an American phenomenon,” he says.

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