Woman's face mauled By chimp who had been treated like a human

**Jenna** · 02-20-09, 09:43 PM

The frantic owner of a 200-pound chimpanzee that went berserk in Connecticut pleaded with police over the phone to help her stop the animal from mauling her friend, begging them to "Hurry, please! He ripped her face off."

Police in Stamford released tapes of Sandra Herold's desperate call to police Monday as her 15-year-old chimp, Travis, was attacking 55-year-old Charla Nash.

The chimp can be heard grunting at times on the tape, as Herold cries, "He's killing my friend!"

The dispatcher says, "Who's killing your friend?"

Herold replies, "My chimpanzee! He ripped her apart! Shoot him, shoot him!"

After police arrive, one officer radios back: "There's a man down. He doesn't look good," he says, referring to the disfigured Nash. "We've got to get this guy out of here. He's got no face."

The chimp attacked Nash as Herold, 70, frantically stabbed her beloved pet with a butcher knife and pounded him with a shovel.

"He looked at me like, 'Mom, what did you do?'" Herold told NBC's "Today Show" in an interview aired Wednesday. "It was horrific what happened and I had to do what I had to do, but still, I'll miss him for the rest of my life."

Nash remained in critical condition early Wednesday with major injuries to her face and hands.

Police said they are looking into the possibility of criminal charges. A pet owner can be held criminally responsible if he or she knew or should have known that an animal was a danger to others.

Police said that the chimp was agitated earlier Monday and that Herold had given him the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in some tea. Police said the drug had not been prescribed for the 15-year-old chimp.

Investigators said they were also told that Travis had Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness with flu-like symptoms that can lead to arthritis and meningitis in humans.

"Maybe from the medications he was out of sorts," Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said.

Nash had gone to Herold's home in Stamford on Monday to help her coax the chimp back into the house after he got out, police said. After the animal lunged at Nash when she got out of her car, Herold ran inside to call the police emergency line and returned with a knife.

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. An officer shot Travis several times after the animal opened the door to his cruiser and started to get in.

The wounded chimpanzee fled into the house and retreated to his living quarters, where he died.

When he was younger, Travis starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, made an appearance on the "Maury Povich Show" and took part in a television pilot, according to a 2003 story in The Advocate newspaper of Stamford.

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
NBCNewYork.com
updated 6:16 a.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 19, 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...s6dBgD96E0LOO0

**TXCharlie** · 02-20-09, 09:58 PM

Someone tell Al Sharption that THIS is the monkey in the cartoon strip that he's protesting, not Obama.

**Buttercup** · 02-20-09, 10:00 PM

I've been following that story and every day the information about the owner's relationship with the chimp gets more and more bizarre. She treated him as if he were a human - she fed him lobster and filet mignon, she'd give him wine in a stemmed wine glass, they slept together and bathed together.

**Terminator** · 02-20-09, 10:00 PM

The owner sounds mentally unstable.

**Cidp24** · 02-20-09, 10:59 PM

Trying to own a wild animal as a pet is not generally a good idea. I've been keeping up with it too. I heard a surgeon say that the lady's injury was "life changing" and an officer on scene radioed that he he a man down and the man had no face. Must have been bad considering the victim was a woman. It also attacked an officer in his patrol car. Imagine what the officer thought when the ape got his car door open.

**Retdetsgt** · 02-20-09, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by Buttercup

I've been following that story and every day the information about the owner's relationship with the chimp gets more and more bizarre. She treated him as if he were a human - she fed him lobster and filet mignon, she'd give him wine in a stemmed wine glass, they slept together and bathed together.

Yeah, kinda feeds the imagination, doesn't it.... Yuk.

**Cidp24** · 02-20-09, 11:04 PM

Originally Posted by Retdetsgt

Yeah, kinda feeds the imagination, doesn't it.... Yuk.

Aw man!!! I have been able to avoid picturing that or thinking about it but now you HAD to go and say it out loud!!!

**Retdetsgt** · 02-20-09, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by Cidp24

Aw man!!! I have been able to avoid picturing that or thinking about it but now you HAD to go and say it out loud!!!

Maybe when she asked the chimp if he wanted head, this time he misunderstood????

Okay, I'm sorry, that was really bad.....

**Buttercup** · 02-20-09, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by Cidp24

Imagine what the officer thought when the ape got his car door open.

I think that's when he shot the chimp.

I heard on the news a few minutes ago that the victim was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic, the hospital that recently performed a face transplant.

**Cidp24** · 02-20-09, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Retdetsgt

Maybe when she asked the chimp if he wanted head, this time he misunderstood????

Okay, I'm sorry, that was really bad.....

Cop humor, there is nothing like it.

**Buttercup** · 02-20-09, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Retdetsgt

Yeah, kinda feeds the imagination, doesn't it.... Yuk.

You had to go and say it, didn't you?

**Captain America** · 02-20-09, 11:31 PM

It's a good thing this didn't happen in SPD's jurisdiction considering his misfortunate history with with animals.

**Captain America** · 02-20-09, 11:46 PM

Originally Posted by Buttercup

You had to go and say it, didn't you?

Travis to Herold : " Hey Baby, you want to monkey around?"

**Retdetsgt** · 02-22-09, 01:37 PM

Never thought of "spanking the monkey" quite like that before....

**chp7016** · 03-05-10, 12:21 AM

The rest of the story is the tragedy of the officer, whose nightmare only began with shooting this 200 pound APE. He was denied workman's comp for his PTSD, and I can only imagine the trauma he's undergone after being attacked. I've seen a photo of the woman's face (it isn't there, nor are her hands, and she's blind). It's horrifying.

I just read an editorial today in the Connecticut Republican American that made me realize how far behind people are in understanding what PTSD is and what cops go through. I was stunned. This was my response:

It's so nice that the Republican American shares some "compassion" for an officer who was severely traumatized when viciously attacked by a 200 pound APE he saw had torn off a woman's face and hands and then came rampaging after him. This is the stuff of nightmares, even for you brave armchair "heroes." As you sit in your cozy offices, I suggest you take the time to look up the official DSM definition of PTSD to see how far behind the times the state is in recognizing this horrific emotional injury and how life-changing it is. Yes, police officers sign on to do what YOU would never dream of doing and see horrors that would make you cower, but no--they do everything they can NOT to come out of it dead or physically/emotionally ruined for life. When that happens, yes--you should take care of them. DEEP shame on you all for suggesting that officers somehow "owe" you their blood and hearts for choosing so noble a profession. Shame.

--an old cop