Chimpanzee mauls woman in Stamford

[madinmaryland]

http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_11718798

STAMFORD (CT) -- A woman whose 200-pound chimpanzee attacked her friend Monday afternoon tried to stop the attack by stabbing her pet primate with a butcher knife, police said.

After police arrived to clear the way for emergency medical workers to treat the critically injured friend, the chimp, Travis, revived and opened the door of the police cruiser.

The officer inside fired several shots, killing the chimp.

The owner of the chimp, Sandra Herold, and two officers also were hurt, though the extent of their injuries wasn't clear.

Travis was known in Stamford for years because he rode around in trucks belonging to Herold's towing company, Desire Me Motors in Stamford.

..snip

It is not illegal to own an exotic pet in Connecticut, but a law requires new owners to have permits. The law was not retroactive and did not apply to the Herolds.

As The Advocate has reported, the 15-year-old chimp was toilet trained, dressed himself, took his own bath, ate at the table and drank wine from a stemmed glass. He brushed his teeth using a Water Pik, logged onto the computer to look at pictures, and watched television using the remote control.

The Herolds got Travis when he was three days old.

..snip

:wtf:

[saltpoint]

1. Had he lived, he would have made a great Commerce Secretary.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Change the "m" in Stamford to an "n" and it would all make sense.

[patrice]

3. Too bad for Travis!!! It would be interesting to know more about the circumstances of the attack.

[TwilightGardener]

4. He sounded very sophisticated, with his wine glass and Water Pik.

But deep inside, he chafed at the constraints of civil society. Poor monkey, caught between two worlds.

[KansDem]

5. WTF? What's he doing in Connecticut?

Oh, that's right. Bush is originally from Connecticut! :think:

[Deep13]

6. I hope she makes a full recovery, but I doubt it.

"Her face was very badly mauled by the chimp, police said.

"'It was a very serious attack. She suffered a tremendous loss of blood, terrible facial injuries, body injuries and hand injuries,' Capt. Richard Conklin said."

Chimps are much stronger than humans and have powerful jaws. It would not surprise me if it bit her fingers off. Wild animals are not our friends. Only centuries of domestication and artificial selection for docility and loyalty all us to make pets of cats and dogs. One cannot simply pull a chimp baby out of a tree and expect it to be a pet.

[LisaL]

8. I wonder if it was neutered. Probably not.

[KittyWampus]

11. Travis, More info about Travis at linked story. No mention about neutering. No one knows

what set him off.

[brentspeak]

21. There was a guy in the news a few years ago who had his nose bitten off by a chimp

Along with his fingers.

[Deep13]

27. I was thinking about that. nt

[LisaL]

48. Nose and the fingers weren't all that was bitten off.

[Blue Diadem]

31. It wasn't just her fingers, he bit off both her hands.

http://www.wfsb.com/news/18726175/detail.html

I hope she survives too. I can only imagine what he did to her face if he was able to bite off both her hands.

[Deep13]

33. Jesus!

:cry:

[AngryAmish]

7. What sort of loon would keep a chimp as a pet?

They are wild animals who like to kill their own.

[madinmaryland]

9. I was wondering that too.

[MadHound]

12. Same reason people keep tigers, bears, wolves and other such animals as pets

They're fricking idiots who've got more money that brains.

Twenty plus years ago I knew a woman who worked took in exotics. She was a former cop who had gotten her arm blown off in the line of duty, so she went into exotic rescue work. When animal control and other such agencies closed down petting zoos or drive through zoos, or even private operations, she was the one who took the animals in and nursed them back to health and then found appropriate homes for them. It was really insane how badly some of these animals were treated.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. I think wolves are an exception

I've known people with wolves, and they were pretty friendly.

And, a wolf is basically just a large dog. Tigers and bears are much more dangerous.

[MadHound]

16. Yeah, that's what most people think,

And to a certain extent they're right. But a wolf is a bit more complicated in its interactions and motivations than a dog is, therefore it is always best to treat them as what they really are, a wild animal. I've known wolves that have attacked for no apparent reason(actually it was due to the person's body language), just as I've wrestled with bears who were friendly and gentle as all get out.

The thing is never, ever forget that you're dealing with a wild animal.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

18. No, I totally agree with remembering it's still a wild animal

And I don't think most people should own wolves. Hell, most people shouldn't own lots of breeds of dogs, for that matter.

[brentspeak]

20. You've wrestled with bears?

How did you survive?

[MadHound]

23. They were actually quite friendly bears

I woman that I know, a former cop who turned to exotic animal rescue after losing her arm in the line of duty, had a pair of black bears that she had rescued as cubs from a crap ass roadside zoo. All of the other animals that she rescued she found appropriate homes for, but these two bears were her babies. I first got to know them when she brought them into the vet office I was working at for their check up. I was put in charge of entertaining them and found them to be sweet, lovable animals who just loved marshmallows. A month or two later this woman invited me out to her place and said that it was OK to roughhouse with the bears, which I did. I'm 6'5", and at the time was in real good shape, but these guys were my match and more. They didn't hurt me, I didn't hurt them, but we all had a great time rolling around on the ground wrestling each other. After that I was a regular visitor and playmate of theirs.

I moved on, and a few years later this woman had passed on. Went to the funeral and then out to her place. The bears recognized me and bounded over wanting a good romp, not just for old times sake but also because I think they were latching on to any familiar face they could find. Had a great time with them, and found out that they were going to another excellent person who would take car of them.

This was all over twenty five years ago, and I imagine that Rusty and Dusty have long since passed away. But they were wonderful creatures, and I think that they made me an honorary bear too.

[brentspeak]

34. Honorary bear

Cool! B-)

[Ladyhawk]

37. But bears are godless killing machines.

Stephen Colbert said so, so I know it's true.

[Deep13]

40. My gut confirms this. nt

[Lost in CT]

38. By letting the bear win....

Old wookie chess joke...

[misanthrope]

36. They're not "just a large dog." They're wolves...

...They are mostly similar but still different. Dogs have been manipulated by artificial selection, neotanized to vast degree. The difference between a wolf and a dog is the difference between a three-year-old and a fully adult human.

I love wolves and greatly enjoyed the time I've been lucky enough to spend with them but I give a different kind of respect to them than I do to dogs.

I would never recommend one as a pet, as much for its sake as anything else.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

43. I worded it wrong, but strength wise, they're basically a large dog

Unlike a tiger or a chimpanzee. I'm not suggesting people run out and get wolves, but I think they can be safely kept in the right hands.

[misanthrope]

45. Gotcha. A wolf by itself...

...is also a different thing than a pack. Whole 'nother dynamic at work.

[Deep13]

39. I respectfully disagree.

Wolves have not been subjected to centuries of selective breeding to make them docile and loyal. Wolves don't bark and have numerous structural differences that make them effecient killing machines. They are two parallel but seperate lines of evolution with a common ancestor that predates civilization. Your friend notwithstanding, I frankly think a wolf is as impossible to tame as a zebra is.

[KamaAina]

19. Cheney?

:P

[alittlelark]

26. ROTFL!

:spray: :rofl:

[misanthrope]

35. And almost genetically identical to humans. Hmmm...**nm

**

[AngryAmish]

42. The genetic changes between us and chimps are important and not

We have had a few million years different evolutionary paths.

Similarities: Apes, obviously. Pack structures. Omniverousness. Both go to war. Kill for sexual advantage.

Dissimerlarities: Most modern humans are not as violent. More planning, tool use, language etc.

The iteresting question is the genetic dissimilarities between humans and how that accounts for behavior. We are now just opening up that box.

[Freddie Stubbs]

44. Crazy people are known to kill people too, but are often allowed to live among the sane when they

are not acting in a manner which is consider a danger to themselves and others.

[MadHound]

10. This is why you don't have exotics running around loose on your property

Because you never know when something that a friend or visitor innocently does will set them off. Sounds to me like somebody was trying to live out their "Every Which Way but Loose" fantasy, but that was fiction.

Shame the chimp had to pay for the stupidity of the owners.

[geardaddy]

41. Exactly. n/t

[LeftHander]

13. Sure this wasn't in Maine....Kennebunkport...? nt

[rvablue]

14. Sad as that chimp should have been living in the rain forest in Africa, but I did have to

giggle just a bit at the logging on to the computer and remote control usage.

While hopefully that woman will make a recovery, anyone who treats these wild animals to live in cages or houses and wear clothes and ride around cars is asking for it.

That chimp would have chosen the canopy living in West Africa over Connecticut if given the choice.

[undeterred]

32. I lived in Africa for a summer with a family who had a pet chimp.

The chimp was a couple months old when they got it. Some Africans were going to kill it for food, and the little American girl got upset, so her father bought it and they brought it home for a pet.

She was toddler sized when I lived with them. It was a very interesting experience- I used to pick Suki up by her hands and swing her around in a circle. She wasn't cuddly at all. If she didn't like something she would bare her teeth at you. The chimp came inside occasionally but it wasn't an inside pet.

The chimp was a problem. First of all wild animals came up to the house at night because they wanted to eat it. The monkey was locked in a shed, but there were "cats" trying to get to it.
Secondly, the chimp considered the little girl its "mom". This can only last for so long. The animal cannot really be domesticated and it can't be released into the wild or it will die on its own. It's not the kind of animal one should keep for a pet.

[marksmithfield]

17. I have seen a spider monkey

beat the hell out of a friend, and it was no laughing matter. So much power packed in those small bodys.

[madinmaryland]

24. Welcome to DU!!

:hi:

[backscatter712]

25. I have no knowledge of spider monkeys, but the great apes are incredibly strong.

An adult chimpanzee is 5-7 times as strong as an adult human male, and orangutans and gorillas are 10-12 times as strong.

You know how domestic dogs are juvenilized wolves? Humans are not far off from being juvenilized apes. The great apes have extra types of muscle cells in their bodies that they get around puberty that we humans don't get.

They can throw things around their habitats and perform feats of strength like the Incredible Hulk. That cute and cuddly chimp can easily kill you.

[RebelOne]

22. I'm an animal lover, but was never too fond of chimps

ever since I was a kid. When parents moved to South Florida when I was about 6 years old, they took me to the Monkey Jungle in Miami. One of the chimps threw his poop at us. Luckily, I ducked, but it hit my mother.

[goforit]

28. Stamford, Ct.???? This is where Lieberman is from. LOL, Any relationship?

[flvegan]

29. 15? He probably wanted the keys to the car and they said no.

All jesting aside, I feel horribly for the chimp and I hope the woman makes a full recovery.

[BlooInBloo]

30. PETA bemoans the fact that the chimp wasn't permitted to kill her.

[soothsayer]

46. travis is kind of a problem name. did the chimp hit puberty? maybe that

made him more aggressive.

[misanthrope]

49. Well, he was sporting a mohawk...

...and wearing an old fatigue jacket.

"You talkin' to me?"

[cbc5g]

47. She had her face and hands ripped off

Pray that none of us ever have to experience the kind of pain and agony that woman went through.