These kinds of animals should not in my opinion be owned by individuals.
From Times Online February 17, 2009.
Travis – a former star of TV commercials – mauled a woman who was visiting his owner, Sandra Herold, at her house in Stamford, Connecticut. According to police, Ms Herold was forced to stab her pet – which she had raised like a child – with a butcher's knife to try to stop the attack, rendering the chimpanzee unconscious.
As police and emergency crews tended to Ms Herold’s injured friend, Travis woke up and tried to open the door of a police car, cornering an officer in his cruiser.
The police officer shot 15-year-old Travis several times and the chimp, who reportedly liked policemen, retreated to his playroom in the house, where he was later found dead.
Captain Richard Conklin of Stamford police said that the injured woman was in a “very serious” condition at Stamford Hospital. She had suffered “a tremendous loss of blood” from serious facial injuries.
Travis’s owner and two officers were also hurt, though police said the extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
Travis was well known in Stamford because he rode around in trucks belonging to the Herolds' towing company. He also appeared on TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola when he was younger, made an appearance on the Maury Povich Show and took part in a television pilot, according to the Stamford Advocate newspaper.
The paper reported that the chimpanzee was toilet trained, could dress himself, brush his own teeth, took his own bath and “ate at the table and drank wine from a stemmed glass”. He could also log on to the computer and look at pictures, and used the remote control to watch television.
“He's been raised almost like a child by this family,” Captain Conklin said. “He rides in a car every day, he opens doors, he's a unique animal in that aspect. We have no indication of what provoked this behaviour at all.”
Travis had previously been in trouble over an incident in 2003 when, riding in the back of his owner’s car, he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped out at a traffic light. Travis had been provoked by a young man who threw something at the window of the car.
Police said they had no idea why Travis attacked the woman as she got out of her car to visit Ms Herold.
He said the chimp had been ill from Lyme disease, “so maybe from the medications he was out of sorts. We really don't know.”
From Times Online February 17, 2009.
Travis – a former star of TV commercials – mauled a woman who was visiting his owner, Sandra Herold, at her house in Stamford, Connecticut. According to police, Ms Herold was forced to stab her pet – which she had raised like a child – with a butcher's knife to try to stop the attack, rendering the chimpanzee unconscious.
As police and emergency crews tended to Ms Herold’s injured friend, Travis woke up and tried to open the door of a police car, cornering an officer in his cruiser.
The police officer shot 15-year-old Travis several times and the chimp, who reportedly liked policemen, retreated to his playroom in the house, where he was later found dead.
Captain Richard Conklin of Stamford police said that the injured woman was in a “very serious” condition at Stamford Hospital. She had suffered “a tremendous loss of blood” from serious facial injuries.
Travis’s owner and two officers were also hurt, though police said the extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
Travis was well known in Stamford because he rode around in trucks belonging to the Herolds' towing company. He also appeared on TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola when he was younger, made an appearance on the Maury Povich Show and took part in a television pilot, according to the Stamford Advocate newspaper.
The paper reported that the chimpanzee was toilet trained, could dress himself, brush his own teeth, took his own bath and “ate at the table and drank wine from a stemmed glass”. He could also log on to the computer and look at pictures, and used the remote control to watch television.
“He's been raised almost like a child by this family,” Captain Conklin said. “He rides in a car every day, he opens doors, he's a unique animal in that aspect. We have no indication of what provoked this behaviour at all.”
Travis had previously been in trouble over an incident in 2003 when, riding in the back of his owner’s car, he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped out at a traffic light. Travis had been provoked by a young man who threw something at the window of the car.
Police said they had no idea why Travis attacked the woman as she got out of her car to visit Ms Herold.
He said the chimp had been ill from Lyme disease, “so maybe from the medications he was out of sorts. We really don't know.”
Hopefully he isn't out and throwing his poop at people.
