Primate activists outraged
WTNH TV — Connecticut
* Story by: Annie Rourke
Stamford (WTNH) - You can get a permit for an exotic pet in Connecticut. But, the animal should not be more than 50 lbs. The chimp named Travis, that attacked his owner’s friend and left her in critical condition, was 200 lbs. But, he was somehow “grandfathered” in. This now has primate activists outraged.
“Beer commercials, soda commercials, you know, people watch the Super Bowl and think it’s terribly amusing to see primates in commercials,” Friends of Animals’ Priscilla Feral said.
It’s called the pet trade. And, a chimpanzee like Travis can be very lucrative. As a baby, he would’ve sold for about $30,000 and brought in much more for the work. At one time, Travis did star in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola.
“A chimpanzee in the entertainment industry, or movies, is pushed around and sometimes hit a lot to cooperate,” Feral said. “At about the age of 6, they stop cooperating.”
Chimps, and other primates, are often then sold to roadside circuses or medical laboratories for testing. The lucky ones get to a sanctuary like Primarily Primates in San Antonio; it’s run by Friends of Animals in Darien.
Travis was kept as a pet in Stamford. News Channel 8 has been told he was treated like one of the family, dressing himself and drinking wine at the dinner table with his owner. But animal experts say they are not human.
“These are wild animals and very dangerous animals,” said Beardsley Zoo Director Gregg Dancho.
News Channel 8 has been told the owner, 70-year-old Sandra Herold, used Travis as a kind of mascot for her business and he was well-known in town. He once stopped traffic for a time when he escaped the car. Feral believes all of this was a ticking time-bomb. She is actually surprised the chimp didn’t attack sooner.
“It’s also the responsibility of our government, in Connecticut, every state government, to prohibit this kind of relationship,” said Feral.
News Channel 8 tried to contact the Department of Environmental Protection about the permit for the chimpanzee. They did not return our calls for comment.
Friends of Animals is now demanding a list of all the monkeys and chimps who are permitted in the state of Connecticut. They say it is simply too dangerous for everyone involved.
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1 Comments
On February 18, 2009, Susan Davis wrote:
Good for you for speaking out on behalf of Travis and other Chimps! I am so outraged that this poor Chimp was expected to behave in every way like a human, and even given human drugs which have a completely different effect on Chimps! The woman who ended up savagely killing her supposedly beloved Chimp was a moron who didn’t have the sense to keep her friend from approaching the Chimp when she knew very well that the Chimp was reacting to either the drug or to Lyme Disease or both. The lesson to learn here is that Chimps are not pets, and the media’s reporting of this is despicable and irresponsible.