The man, and the unique story, behind the ‘Columbus Zoo Sucks’ airplane banners
Local zoo guests received an unexpected message this summer.
On June 7, a plane flew over Columbus Zoo and Aquarium’s, Safari Golf Course, and Muirfield Village, during The Memorial Tournament. Trailing behind the plane was a banner directing viewers to a website titled “columbuszoosucks.org.” The plane flew over Zoo property again on July 13, during the Jack Hanna Legacy Cup.
Kevin Finisterre, father and longtime Columbus Zoo patron, chartered the plane after he claimed the zoo mistreated his autistic son. Finisterre and the Zoo have been engaged in a nearly two-year-long dispute, resulting in the Zoo filing a lawsuit against Finisterre for alleged harassment.
Finisterre, who is also autistic, has been a Gold Member of the Columbus Zoo for more than ten years. In 2025, the Zoo switched from physical Gold Cards to wristbands and a digital app for membership access, and he claims his 15-year-old autistic son, due to sensory issues, could not wear the band.
The Zoo suggested that Finisterre could either wear the wristband for his son or attach it to a backpack or shoelace, but Finisterre believed this would have taken away his son’s autonomy. This eventually led him to create Columbuszoosucks.org, which chronicles his issues with the Columbus-area attraction.
According to the Zoo, Finisterre contacted the zoo’s employees through personal devices, work phones, and emails more than 55 times over the course of 8 months. He also made at least 40 posts on X and LinkedIn that were addressed to the zoo’s employees or referenced the Zoo.
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“We live 5 minutes from the zoo, we used to be every day visitors. It’s an autistic loop of my son’s. Every single one of those calls was tied to a visit in which my son had a bad experience with staff harassing him about his wristband, and I was trying to call someone and talk about it, or just document it was still occurring,” Finisterre said. He later claimed, “Throughout all of this, not once has C-level, Director level, or membership level staff taken a moment to talk to my son…just zero empathy to anything but their policy.”
On November 25, 2025, the zoo filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas against Finisterre for civil claims of alleged telecommunications harassment and menacing by stalking. In January, Finisterre filed a discrimination charge against the Zoo with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. On June 17, the Commission ruled that there was no probable cause to support allegations against the Zoo.
“When Mr. Finisterre asked that his son not be required to wear a Zoo wristband, the Zoo immediately granted that request. Instead of collaborating with Zoo staff on alternatives, Mr. Finisterre began a campaign of relentless harassment and menacing behavior toward our employees. The Zoo will always be committed to accommodating our valued guests with disabilities,” Columbus Zoo VP of Communications, Marketing, & Events, Nicolle Gómez Racey, said in a statement.
On July 9, the Zoo banned Finisterre only—not his son—from visiting the property. And although banned and facing an ongoing lawsuit, Finisterre is continuing his fight for a band-free zoo and, as he sees it, accommodation for all.
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