When the wild kingdom and humankind mix, the results usually are tragic...
HARTFORD, Conn. – A highly trained 200-pound chimpanzee who once starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola was shot dead by police after a violent rampage that left a friend of its owner badly mauled.
Sandra Herold, the owner of the 15-year-old chimp named Travis, wrestled with the animal after it inexplicably attacked her friend Monday when the visitor got out of her car in front of Herold's home.
"She retrieved a large butcher knife and stabbed her longtime pet numerous times in an effort to save her friend, who was really being brutally attacked," said Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin.
The injured woman suffered facial injuries and blood loss. She was hospitalized late Monday in very serious condition at Stamford Hospital, police said. Her identity was not immediately released.
"There was no provocation that we know of. One thing that we're looking into is that we understand the chimpanzee has Lyme disease and has been ill from that, so maybe from the medications he was out of sorts. We really don't know," Conklin said.
After the initial attack, Travis ran away and started roaming Herold's property until police arrived, setting up security so medics could reach the critically injured woman, Conklin said.
But the chimpanzee returned and went after several of the officers, who retreated into their cars, Conklin said. Travis knocked the mirror off a cruiser before opening its door and starting to get in, trapping the officer.
That officer shot the chimpanzee several times, Conklin said.
The wounded chimpanzee fled the scene, but Conklin said police were able to follow the trail of his blood: down the driveway, into the open door of the home, through the house and to his living quarters, where he had retreated and died of his wounds.
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Click here!My two cents on this...
What part of "animal" this people don't understand!
It doesn't matter if the damn thing can cook a gourmet dinner and iron my shirts, it's still a freaking animal!!!
He should have been with other animals, in a wildlife reserve or in the wild, not with humans!!
This is the thing that happens when humans try to anthropomorphize animals (you know, think that animals behave and act like humans...)
Hey, I love animals, but I give them their space. I like looking at them, knowing of them and studying them, but I wouldn't have one of them in my house! I don't even have a Beta fish. I don't believe in the owning of animals. Nobody should own anything that is alive. That was the thinking behind slavery!
You know who I blame for this...Disney! Yes Disney! For warping the minds of millions of Americans into thinking that animals are cute, cuddly and act like us!
Bull!
I say protect the animals! But leave them alone!!!!
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