text: An exotic animal owner from Ohio is campaigning for his bear and big cats to be returned after they were seized by the state in January. In total, six tigers, a bear, a lion, a cougar, a black leopard and a liger (part lion, part tiger) were taken from Kenny Hetrick's Stony Ridge farm after it was found he did not have the correct permit and cages were 'unsafe'. Authorities have also started cracking down on the owners of  wild creatures following an incident in 2011 where a man in eastern Ohio released 56 exotic animals - including lions and  tigers - then killed himself. Apparently Hetrick has been heartbroken by the clampdown on his farm and the 72-year-old widower is now fighting to overturn the seizure, backed by neighbors who insist his menagerie doesn't pose a threat. Scroll down for video . Feeling lost: Kenny Hetrick is campaigning for his tigers, leopards and bears to be returned after they were seized by the state in January . They have organized car washes and handed him envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars to pay legal bills. Some spent the winter shoring up his cages with taller fences and netting, hoping the animals will return. 'He's lost without them,' said Josh Large, who lives four houses away. 'A lot of us are lost without them.' Hetrick allowed anyone to visit at no charge, getting by with help from volunteers and donations of cash, as well as of deer and horse meat to feed his animals. He thought of himself as an educator, inviting scout troops and families to learn what they wouldn't hear at zoos. Flashback: In total six tigers, a bear, a lion, a cougar, a black leopard and a liger were taken from Hetrick's farm after it was found he did not have the correct permit - here he is seen in 2014 with his pet bear . However, the 2011 incident mentioned earlier pushed Ohio to tighten regulations on 'private zoos'. Owners are now required to have sturdy cages, background checks and insurance before receiving an annual permit. Since the beginning of last year, Ohio has issued permits to 54 exotic animal enthusiasts. Others gave up their animals or moved them out of state rather than make the changes. 'I know I didn't have everything done, but I thought they'd work with me,' said Hetrick, who acknowledged before his animals were taken that he couldn't afford everything the state wanted. The agriculture department says that it tried, but that he never responded to letters sent over a span of two years with the permit application materials until last October, nine months after the deadline, when it gave him ten days to surrender his animals. State officials in January rejected his application for a permit, which includes a $1,000 fee, saying it submitted was too late. They also said state inspectors who visited the sanctuary outside Toledo last November discovered the tigers could stand on their housing and get dangerously near the top of their cages. The inspection noted there were unsecured padlocks and chains and not enough fencing around an enclosure holding a tiger and black leopard. 'If motivated, it would be very easy for either of those two animals to escape,' said Melissa Simmerman, assistant state veterinarian. Hetrick, whose pickup truck has 'Tiger Man' painted on the side, disputes those assertions. 'Nothing's ever got loose. Not in almost 40 years,' he said. 'Nobody's ever been bit. Nobody's been hurt.' Empty: A sign affixed to a cage at Tiger Ridge Exotics in Stony Ridge, Ohio, indicates that it is the home of Cody the bear - Cody and 10 other exotic animals were seized by the state in January . Lonesome: Only Chief the wolf wasn't seized because it doesn't fall under the exotic animal law . The Ohio Department of Agriculture has a duty to protect the public's safety, spokeswoman Erica Hawkins said. 'Just because an animal's never gotten out, doesn't mean that an animal couldn't get out,' she said. Hetrick is appealing the department's rejection of his permit application and a hearing is scheduled for next week, but the fight will probably continue in court no matter what a state panel decides. Until then, the ten animals - a lion named Leo that had been in failing health was euthanized by the state last week - will remain a two-hour drive away outside Columbus, in a high-security building operated by the state. 'Today, the Ohio Department of Agriculture did the right thing by seizing the wild animals at Tiger Ridge Exotics who have been held illegally and long neglected. Now, it's been reported that the animals will possibly have to endure the stress of being tranquilized again and moved back to the roadside zoo—a potentially life-threatening move. This is a selfish stunt to prevent the animals from being sent to a sanctuary where they would finally receive the care that they so desperately need. PETA is calling on the facility to do the right thing and allow these animals to enjoy a peaceful life at a reputable sanctuary where their needs would come first.' Source: Toledo News Now . Supporters of Hetrick believe the animals - only the wolf wasn't seized because it doesn't fall under the exotic animal law - have been mistreated and will not survive long outside their home. State officials insist they are fine. Hetrick doesn't have formal training with wild animals, but he has been around them about 60 years, since he was a ten-year-old volunteer cleaning cages at a zoo in Tarpon Springs, Florida. His love for wild creatures grew when he moved to Ohio. He first brought home an ocelot, often called a dwarf leopard. 'I tell people don't start with a tiger if you don't know what you're doing,' he said. He and his wife, who died four years ago, spent much of the money he made as an auto worker and police officer on the animals. Even with donations, food alone for the tigers and others cost as much as $15,000 annually in recent years. Their collection multiplied, often when others dropped off unwanted pets. His daughter, Corrina Hetrick, remembers going out to catch the school bus only to find an alligator swimming in a kiddie pool. There also was the time a black panther showed up in the back of a pickup truck. 'I didn't have cats and dogs,' she said. 'I had bears and tigers.' Even the circus camped at his two-acre property while traveling between shows. 'We had elephants in the backyard and contortionists in the living room,' she said. Erica Crawford, who has been visiting Hetrick's animals since she was a little girl and now brings her children, said she appreciates the uniqueness of the place. 'There's never been a time,' she said, 'where I felt like it's not safe there.'
target: In total, six tigers, a bear, a lion, a cougar, a black leopard and a liger (part lion, part tiger) were taken from Kenny Hetrick's Stony Ridge farm .
  State officials found he didn't have the right permit and cages were 'unsafe'
  But now the 72-year-old is fighting to overturn the seizure, backed by neighbors who insist his menagerie doesn't pose a threat .
  'He's lost without them,' said Josh Large, who lives four houses away .