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A 200-pound chimpanzee, who was a beloved sight in his Stamford, Connecticut neighborhood, was shot by police officers after he attacked his owner's friend. The Post reports that owner Sondra Herold, 70, was having trouble containing her pet Travis: The Stamford police said that Herold "gave him Xanax in tea to quiet him, but the chimp grabbed the keys to open the kitchen door, went outside and started banging on car doors to indicate he wanted to go for a ride." So Herold called friend Charla Nash for help.
When Nash appeared, Stamford police captain Richard Conklin said that Travis "went up to her, jumped on her and began biting and mauling her." Herold's nephew said that his aunt used a shovel to hit the rampaging animal and then took a kitchen knife and stabbed Travis in the back, but Travis didn't stop. The police arrived and apparently the chimp tore off the cruiser's mirror and opened the door, so the officer, trapped in the cruiser, repeatedly fired at Travis. The animal, now mortally wounded, went back into the home and was found dead in his cage.
Nash is fighting for her life; a paramedic told the NY Times, "I’ve been doing this a long time and have never seen anything this dramatic on a living patient." A friend told WCBS 2, "He bit both of her hands off and the cop told me he just kept eating her. It's terrible."
Capt. Conklin said, "These actions have not been seen in the chimpanzee before. This animal had been raised as a member of the family," and suggested the chimp might have been affected by his Lyme disease medication. Neighbors, who would see the chimp walking around the neighborhood, were surprised. One neighbor spoke highly of Travis's social skills to MyFoxNY: "I tell you, I would rather take Travis out than one of my nephews."
And Travis has been in the spotlight before: Besides filming TV commercials, the NY Times reports he once "playfully held up traffic at a busy intersection for several hours." Also: "Travis’s social skills included drinking wine from a stemmed glass, dressing and bathing himself and using a computer."
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It's a madhouse!!!
That's how chimps attack, they take pieces off your body. There was that guy around two years ago who was attacked by three chimps who got loose in a wild animal park. They bit off his nose, his lips, his cheeks, all ten of his fingers, his cock and balls and also one of his feet. Probably a bad idea to keep one as a pet.
Holy crap!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1364810.ece
This sounds like the guy you mentioned. Jebus!
OMG—for the faint of heart, do not click that Sun link. That photograph of the man is really disturbing.
I did click on it and I deserve it for not listening to you.
I don't understand why people can let animals be and why we must used them as entertainment. I only have rescued pets since I would buy one or take one from his/her natural habitat.
I don't understand why people canT let animals be and why we must used them as entertainment. I only have rescued pets since I would NEVER buy one or take one from his/her natural habitat.
Hypocrite.
This is why people shouldn't keep wild animals as pets. They're still wild.
Really sad story, but prompts the question, why was he in a domestic environment at all? Regardless of how trained and docile he may be, chimps are not domestic animals.
You want a friend, get a dog.
Ooh, I want one!!!!
I don't feel sorry for the people involved but for the chimp.
This would have never happened had the chimp been left in the wild away from stupid humans. When will people learn!!!!!???? Quit f#@ing with wildlife.
He was upset the stimulus package contained no banana subsidies.
The Xanax really seems to have done the trick.
Anti-depressants have some wicked side-effects on humans, why not other primates?
It's just too bad he attacked the friend instead of the idiot owner, who really deserved it. Chimps aren't pets - they are just as mean and nasty as humans, and more difficult to civilize. Also, physically stronger - you can't control them.
WOW! A 200 pound chimp is almost a small gorilla. And a 70 year old woman was it's owner? Not a good mix.
How did the cop get trapped in the cop car?
Drove upto the scene. Chimp saw the threat, and tried to neutralize it.
the NY Times reports he once "playfully held up traffic at a busy intersection for several hours."
Interessting that the Post describes that incident a bit differently:
In October 2003, he bolted from his owners' SUV and occupied an intersection in the heart of Stamford, holding police at bay for a few hours.
Cops arrived with more than a dozen cruisers but had difficulty catching the diaper-wearing chimp, who continued playing in the street and occasionally charged officers.
Actually a good lesson showing how the press can chooses to spin a report pretty much any way it want to.
Lucky it wasn't euthanized then.
take yer stinkin paws off of me you damn dirty ape
Jesus, it went apeshit.
Seriously though, its idiotic for a 70yr old to be owning a wild animal like this.
NYC won't even let people own ferrets and somehow Connecticut allows this kind of dangerous beast? As others have written above, most animals can never be fully domesticated and the amount of damage that a grown chimp can do is terrifying.
Cows and sheep have been domesticated quite well. I wouldn't want them living in my apartment, but they are not aggressive.
On the next, When Animals Attack!
This entire incident is utterly horrific. One hopes the neighbor pulls through, but those are some gruesome injuries to survive and live with. Based on the prior incident, the owner should have been criminally charged.
Well behaved chimps rarely make history.
Billy Joe McKay* never had problems like this.
*Awesome obscure reference that is appropriate in this instance.
Don't point out your own obscure reference, doofus.
If you can't pick up the wild animal when its naughty, its not a wild animal for your home.
Seeing as how chimps are humans' closest relative, I can see why felixthecat and PETA haven't jumped on the cops for killing this one. They're too human to care about.
what is your problem? Why do you hate animals so much. What sort of issues do you have? Don't scapegoat your issues on those poor innocent animals and deal with them. This incident would never have happened if people would just leave animals alone. Let them be.
Why aren't you on the bedbug thread defending the bedbugs?
why aren't you doing something good instead of criticizing people who at least do something?
I love animals and I love humans, but I hate zealots and extremists. If I pick on you here, it's only because I want to see you learn a bit of humility. We've been utilizing and eating animals since the beginning of civilization. Humans, if nothing else are creatures of habit, so nothing is going to change that. Once you've resigned yourself to this fact, you'll become much happier and won't feel the need to unethically splash blood on someone's coat.
"Don't point out your own obscure reference, doofus."
- Nick S*
*Someone not clever enough to get the joke in actually pointing out the obviously obscure (and still awesome) reference using an asterisk.
Speaking of chimps: HOW ABOUT CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR GEORGE W BUSH?
Anyone?
"...he once playfully held up traffic at a busy intersection for several hours."
I'd hit the fucker with a shovel, too.
Hopefrully this disturbing event didn't occur in the Estate Section of Stamford.
They tried Xanax and tea. When that didn't work, they tried a shovel.