Chimpanzee Attack Updates
Tougher laws urged for exotic pets
The Connecticut Post
February 19, 2009
By Ken Dixon
STAFF WRITER
HARTFORD — “Lax,” “vague” and “defective” state laws and regulations on the possession of exotic animals need to be tightened to make sure the chimp-mauling tragedy in Stamford never happens again, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday.
Blumenthal said chimpanzees, dangerous snakes and other wild animals should be banned from private homes, under penalty of state misdemeanor charges that include six months in prison and $5,000 fines.
The attorney general’s announcement was praised by the Darien-based Friends of Animals. View Full Story
____________________________________________________________________
Blumenthal calls for exotic animal ban in wake of Stamford chimpanzee attack
The Stamford Advocate — Stamford CT
February 18, 2009
By Ken Dixon
STAFF WRITER
HARTFORD — “Lax” state laws and regulations on the possession of exotic animals need to be tightened to make sure the chimp-mauling tragedy in Stamford never happens again, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday. View Full Story
____________________________________________________________________
Chimp attack calls for state law review
The Hour — Stamford CT
February 17, 2009
By CHASE WRIGHT
Hour Staff Writer
As police continue to investigate Monday’s chimpanzee attack that left the primate dead and the owner’s friend in critical condition, state and local officials are questioning existing exotic pet ownership laws.
Stamford resident Charla Nash, 55, was still in critical condition at Stamford Hospital Tuesday after she was mauled and bitten by a 200-pound ape named Travis, who attacked her at the owner’s home on Rock Rimmon Road.
Nash had been called by the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, to help coax Travis back into the house after he escaped by using a key to unlock the front door. Travis then turned on Nash, bolting after her and brutally beating her in the driveway of Herold’s home.
Stamford police arrived shortly after the attack and were forced to kill Travis when he cornered one officer inside his police cruiser.
Police played back the horrific dispatch communication for more than dozen members of the media who gathered at Stamford police headquarters Tuesday evening. The audio included a wildly distraught Herold, who took refuge inside her car and pleaded for police to respond to the scene as her pet ape punched and bit the face of Nash as she lay motionless in the driveway.
“Please, you have to shoot this chimp!” Herold screamed to the dispatch unit on the other line. “He’s killing my friend — he ripped her apart!”
The attack lasted about 12 minutes and police officers responded within five minutes of Herold’s 911 call, said Capt. Richard Conklin.
Police are still questioning what could have provoked the 14-year-old chimp to act in such a wild manner, but animal advocates say the answer is obvious.
“A chimpanzee is not a domestic pet,” said Pricilla Feral, president of the international animal advocacy group Friends of Animals, based in Darien. “Keeping an animal like that as a pet and force-training it goes against all of its natural instincts. For an attack like this to happen should be expected.”
Feral said she was appalled to hear the state issues permits to homeowners for primates such as chimpanzees. In the wake of Monday’s incident, Feral is calling on the state to adopt new legislation that would make primate pet ownership illegal. She is also requesting that existing permits for primates be exposed and revoked.
“The state has no business issuing permits to people to keep these animals as pets,” said Feral. “The fact that Stamford allowed this to occur in its own backyard is astonishing.”
At a news conference Monday, Mayor Dannel Malloy said the city lacked jurisdiction to control Herold from having Travis on her property, and state and federal laws were “grandfathered” to allow her to maintain ownership of him.
Talking with the state Department of Environ-mental Protection, Conklin said he learned the DEP overlooked a key piece of legislation passed in 2004 that would require owners obtain a permit for any primate weighing more than 50 pounds or less that had been possessed prior to Oct. 1, 2003. According to the statute, the issuance of such permits is left up to the discretion of the commissioner.
Attorney General Rich-ard Blumenthal said a state statute was passed last year in regard to the possession of potentially dangerous animals and penalties for noncompliance with the law. Primates are not on that list, but a separate statute allows any Con-necticut municipality to impose its own regulations to prohibit the keeping of wild or domestic animals.
“As a matter of state law, Stamford would have the authority to take action,” said Blumenthal.
Blumenthal added that his office will be requesting the legislature review the new statute and update the list of dangerous animals to include primates. He is also looking for the legislature to amend the 2004 statute, making it more specific.
Post your comment
Comment Guidelines: We welcome your expressions of opinion on this subject. Please avoid false commentary about individuals or groups. Facts must be verified by the person posting. Off-topic comments, and comments inappropriate for a readership of all ages, may be deleted. E-mail addresses will never be published. Only comments with valid e-mail address will be published.
24 Comments
On February 18, 2009, Maryanne Appel wrote:
It is incredible that grandfathering in a law takes precedence over the lives of both humans and animals. Surely, something can be done - especially in cases such as this - to overturn senseless, outdated laws. What more proof does anyone need to protect animals such as the chimpanzee Travis, as well as humans, in this case, Charla Nash, mauled, and most assuredly, horribly scarred for life? The result of 14 years of captivity of a being who should have been allowed to experience life in his natural habitat, surrounded by his own biological family, created an outcome that was tragic all around.
On February 18, 2009, Sondra Rutherford wrote:
There should be laws to prohibit animals other than dogs and cats to be domesticated.
The wild animals should be living in their own habitat with their own kind. It was not fair to the chimpanzee, Travis to expect him to live and relate to the human environment.
On February 18, 2009, c.j. collins wrote:
Chimpanzees are not pets and never will be. Removing the baby chimps from their mother so they can perform in commercials is cruel. Sandra Herald fed her need for attention by parading Travis around town, reportedly plying sick animal with alcohol and Xanax. Herald is responsible for the animal’s death and for the injuries to all parties. Herald reportedly viewed Travis as her own son.
On February 18, 2009, Irish wrote:
This was an attack waiting to happen,Travis being on medication then also suffering from Lyme disease,no ever wild animal should ever be domesticated,tis wrong and cruel for the animal.
On February 18, 2009, D. Lane wrote:
The woman lost a daughter in a car accident some time ago. She replaced the chimp as to fill the void. Why? Selfishness. There was another attack on a man, St.Thomas. he was interviewed this am on the early show. He got ripped up defending his wife, now she has to care for him. Never would have ANY of this happened if they just would leave nature alone. Do you see chimps taking humans to replace the loss of their kind? I’d like to see a hunter of chimps be taken and treated as a chimp for killing one of their babies. Yeah, how do you like that? Leave wild animals alone and do not use them for human desire. You have no idea what your doing!!!
On February 18, 2009, patricia Traub wrote:
This unnecessary event proves once again, that great apes need to live with their own kind and in their own habitat. Although humans are also great apes, forcing our mannerism on another primate is cruel. I wish humans would take time to learn more about our close relative and just learn to respect and admire them from afar. There is so much information out there, My question is, Why would someone want to own a Chimpanzee. After observing animals in their natural habitat, there is no reason to place a great ape in the containment of a human home.
Congratulations to Priscilla for taking immediate action. You once again have my support. Patricia
On February 18, 2009, Kelly wrote:
Goes to show you how insane and selfish people are. That poor chimp.:( R.I.P.
On February 18, 2009, Ellie Maldonado wrote:
Chimpanzees have a moral right to live on their own terms and in their natural habitat. It should be illegal to own chimpanzees as pets, but until this is written into law, the police or animal control agents should be required to use non-lethal methods to subdue animals if necessary.
Owner, Sandra Herold, claims to have raised Travis “like a human” since he was 4 days old, yet she kept him on a leash and in diapers for 14 years, and finally stabbed him while she waited for the police. Travis’ story is tragic from beginning to end.
On February 18, 2009, Marsha Siano wrote:
She should have called Friends of Animals a long time ago. They could have helped to relocate Travis to Primarily Primates. He would have had a nice life instead of being stabbed with a knife. I cannot imagine the pain that he went through before he died. And the worst part is that his owner, if she has a pet like that, should always have the name and telephone number of an organization that can give her an idea of what to do if she saw it coming to attack and also that he is in good care. She should never have called her friend because if Sandra Harold the owner could not control Travis, then how could her friend do it? What she did is put her friend in jeopardy and cause Travis to die unnecessarily.
On February 18, 2009, Liz Sutliff wrote:
I hope that FOA takes this media frenzy opportunity to include an article about animals in advertising/entertainment in one of their excellent publications.
On February 19, 2009, Kenny wrote:
Kelly, are you serious? RIP the poor chimp? I know its not right how he was kept for all this time, but how can you pity an animal that nearly killed a woman?
On February 19, 2009, Susan Davis wrote:
Kenny, we pity Travis because it was a human that took him from his environment, a human that forced him to live in a completely unnatural state, and a human who asked her friend to enter the territory of Travis when she knew that Travis was already acting erratically, animals are extremely territorial, and a territorial response of attack is natural in the Chimp world to preserve families of Apes. The only one responsible for ripping the face off of Nash is that lunatic Herold who was breaking the permit law, ignoring the needs of the Chimp, and continuously subjecting the public to a wild animal everytime Travis was forced to perform in public or travel with her as she paraded him around regardless of the danger to the public! Pity belongs with Travis and with Nash, but no pity for the human perpetrator here which is Herold.
On February 19, 2009, Greer Ashton wrote:
Kenny, are you saying that there is no empathy in your heart at all for the chimp? That poor chimp deserves all the pity he can get - you seem to agree that it wasn’t OK to keep him under those conditions, yet he is a byproduct of exactly that. Of course, it IS tragic; the owner considered and treated Travis like a human son, among other things, serving him wine with dinner and drugs to keep him sedated….what a winning combination! This tragedy , unfortunately, rests on her shoulders due to the lack of common sense and to lax state laws! This was a very avoidable tragedy!
On February 19, 2009, Natalie Jarnstedt wrote:
Not to in any way marginalize the attack on the poor woman who is fighting for her life, calling this chimp attack vicious dwarfs in comparison to Homo sapiens’ capacity to torture and torment one another and billions of animals every second of the day, whether in the food industry, research labs, entertainment, or in blood sports!
Travis was only acting like a wild chimp that he was! The poor animal, after being stabbed by the owner and shot by police, retreated to the only home he knew to die.
Travis’ act was the result of improper care and illegal ownership that was grandfathered irresponsibly by the State of Connecticut.
No matter how close genetically chimps are to human beings, they are NOT humans; they are wild animals that need to live and socialize with their own kind. Travis should have been placed in a reputable primate center after reaching sexual maturity!
It is a well-known fact that chimps no longer seem to “cooperate” after the age of 6, meaning that they are no longer useful in entertainment to carry out silly and unnatural learned acts.
Travis was ripped away from his mother at 3 days of age (she may even have been killed), to be sold for thousands of dollars in the legal and mostly illegal exotic pet trade around the world. People who buy these animals are responsible for this trade to exist and for tragedies to occur!
[Blog editors’ note: Actually, the DEP allowed the Stamford family to keep the chimpanzee without a permit.
As the Connecticut Post’s editorial says today, no one should own a wild animal in the home, and a law must be passed forbidding it. The DEP is so busy organizing deer, duck and goose hunts at every opportunity, they’re negligent about what they’ve enabled across the state.
It’s their fault that any nonhuman primates are trapped inside residential homes to exist as surrogate children for misguided people. Any monkey, lemur or chimpanzee will bite to exert its dominance. Then there are bobcats and other wild animals who people attempt to tame out of ignorance. It all must stop.These animals now belong in decent, private sanctuaries. They belonged in nature. ]
On February 19, 2009, Paula Swartz wrote:
I visited a sancuary in Ohio the horror story behind the animals that were there broke your heart. People don’t realize that these animals grow very large in size and need special food to keep them healthy and need room to roam and get exercise! They will get stressed if they are couped up in a small area.There should be laws against having exiotic animals as pets! There was a lion at the sancuary that I was at that had urine burns all over it’s body when they got it and the person that had it cut it’s tail off for a sovinier!
It breaks your heart! Thank God for sancuaries that take these animals to let them live the rest of their lives in peace!
On February 19, 2009, AC wrote:
Why is there all this talk of a STATE LAW? It should be a FEDERAL LAW for crying out loud! So it would be illegal to keep a chimp or a tiger or elephant in CT, but anything goes in TX?! People are so backwards about this. A wild animal is a wild animal- period. It should not be a pet in ANY state- period. What is the justification for states that allow these types of pets? I don’t understand.
[Blog editors’ note: The Attorney General of Connecticut can’t fix the problems in Texas, but he can help to champion a bill now in Connecticut to prohibit the ownership of any wild animal as a pet. That law exists nowhere. In California, non-human primates can not be owned as pets, and when these animals are confiscated, some have been sent to Primarily Primates, the sanctuary Friends of Animals manages in Texas. For information on that effort: www.primarilyprimates.org
Once a decent law is created in Connecticut, perhaps there can be momentum for a federal law. One hopes. ]
On February 19, 2009, Aileene Maldonado wrote:
As a former zookeeper I am constantly amazed at the egotistical traits of human beings. It is so selfish to take a wild animal away from it’s natural mother and think that we can do a better job than mother nature. If this lady wanted a son, there are hundreds of children that need adoption.
What she did to this Chimp was cruel and inhumane. Chimps are very social creatures and live in very complex societies. She met none of his needs only hers. I have no sympathy for her loss, only for her friends devestating wounds that will probably never heal, if she even lives.
Aileene Maldonado
Programs Manager
Mississippi Animal Rescue League
601-969-1671
On February 19, 2009, pauline fani wrote:
when will selfishness stop ?
when will we stop using, abusing, and torturing animals?
please——let’s stop this wordwide torture of living creatures that FEEL just like humans feel!
On February 19, 2009, Dawn wrote:
I wish people would treat animals kindly and stop seeing them as things.
Get a life Kenny. Go on a board that hates animals. You’d fit in perfectly.
On February 20, 2009, Esther Peterson wrote:
I feel sorry for that poor chimp. Unfortunately that woman was trying to fill her needs without regard for the animal. Leave animals alone; they can do very well without us humans.
Now if I ever said this in the workplace, my co-workers would think I’m nuts.
On February 22, 2009, kj linarez wrote:
No one should be allowed to have a wild animal in their possession without a permit. Said permit should be only available to those who have the animals best interest, in mind. The process to obtain said permit should be a process like buying a gun. It would help filter out most of the nut jobs, like this women.
And make the penalty of breaking this law, harsh.
[Blog editors’ note: The right message is that no one should have a permit to possess a nonhuman primate or other wild animal as a pet. ]
On March 4, 2009, EINSTEIN wrote:
This is one of the saddest stories I have read since Hulk Hogan’s son crashed his car and killed his friend. It just floors me how some people can be so freaking STUPID. I say this because I am only a high school graduate and I only went to public schools but come on people. When did people start living with wild animals? This may sound mean but some people just deserve what they get!
On March 4, 2009, Madeleine Desroches wrote:
This has been such a horrible tragedy. I was feeling horrible for everyone involved here. I wasn’t sure why Sandra Herold had the chimp from an infant stage. I thought perhaps she was involved with animal rescues and perhaps ended up with a orphaned chimpanzee. It didn’t occur to me that perhaps Sandra Herold actually bought a chimpanzee to be a pet. And, if she did seek out a chimpanzee and paid money for him to be stolen from his family in the wild, then certainly, I would say she is responsible in a criminal way for this horrible tragedy to her Friend, and the death of this chimp and most likely the death of the 2 or more family members of the chimpanzee family that Travis was stolen from that surely died in defending the infant known as Travis.
But if Sandra Herold was presented with a orphaned chimp that needed to eat to survive, and she did what she could and then it became a situation where she couldn’t let him go, as I know they can stay with their mothers a very long time, I can understand the attachment. Whether it is right to allow yourself to be this attached to a wild animal is questionable certainly, but it’s not criminal . My prayers are with Charla Nash.
On November 15, 2009, JENNIFER wrote:
I’m absolutely disgusted that a woman would antagonize a poor helpless animal! Wild animals any kind of wild animal is not a toy but people think they are than they make money off of these poor animals. These stories make me sick!! A chimpanzee is a wild animal no kidding!! They’re also intelligent but THEY’RE NOT PETS!!!! I HOPE THIS SANDRA LADY GETS CHARGED WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY.