First aired in 2010, the show focused on humans who have kept animals as unconventional pets that have turned out to be dangerous and sometimes fatal.

Each episode contains stories of cases of either a species (chimpanzee, tiger) or a class (reptiles, big cats) of animals — referred to in the show as "exotic" — escaping and attacking their owners or those around them.

Many episodes deal with high-profile animal attack cases, such as the February 2009 mauling of Charla Nash by Travis, a 14-year-old chimpanzee who had lived as a pet for his entire life with Connecticut businesswoman Sandra Herold.

Others deal with high-profile animal seizures, such as the finding of Ming, a Bengal tiger living in a Harlem apartment.

Occasionally, the subject-matter experts (SME for short) being interviewed for an episode relate first-hand stories of animal attraction nearly turning fatal for themselves or someone close to them.