The authorities say that the man, Terry Thompson, 62, of Zanesville, freed 56 exotic animals from their cages on Tuesday before fatally shooting himself in his driveway. Forty-eight of the animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions, were subsequently cornered and shot by law enforcement officers, who said it was necessary to protect the public. Most of the animals had wandered no more than 500 yards from their cages.
Six other animals were taken to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and one, a snow monkey, was believed to have been eaten by one of the large cats.
Since the incident, Mr. Kasich, a Republican, has been criticized for not extending an emergency order signed last year by his Democratic predecessor, Ted Strickland, that restricted ownership of such animals.
On Friday, Mr. Kasich, who called it “a very complicated issue,” said his staff had discovered within the past few days that state animal humane officers were empowered to arrest people if they found evidence of animal cruelty. Mr. Kasich said it was not clear why that power had not been exercised in the case of Mr. Thompson.
The executive order Mr. Kasich signed Friday directs state agencies to increase inspections of places that may be housing exotic animals and establishes a telephone hot line for the public to report unsafe situations involving such animals.
The governor also said a state task force charged with developing new exotic animal rules would come up with “a framework” by Nov. 30 for a law that would then be submitted to the state legislature.
“When you see the kind of tragedy that happened in Muskingum County, you can’t look away from it,” the governor said.