Earlier this week a Connecticut woman was attacked by a 200 pound chimpanzee named Travis who had been kept as a pet for 14 years. The woman was friends with the chimp’s “owner”, and was called to help coax him back indoors after he escaped using a key to unlock the front door. Sandra Herold, the woman who kept Travis, seemed surprised by this attack on her friend because “He could eat at the table, drink wine from a stemmed glass, use the toilet, and dress and bathe himself. He brushed his teeth with a Water Pik, logged on to a computer to look at photos and channel-surfed television with the remote control.” The thing is, those abilities make him very intelligent, but they still do not make him a domesticated pet. Travis, like all other chimps, no matter how many amazing “human-like” behaviors they exhibit, are still wild animals who do not belong to anybody else, and who will undoubtedly revert back to their instincts eventually. In addition, chimpanzees have about 5 times the strength of a human male, so if and when they attack, it is going to be brutal – as it was for Herold’s friend, Charla Nash, who is still in critical condition in the hospital.
During the attack, Herold called police, and pleaded with them to help her friend. In the end, police shot Travis, killing him instantly. Now, of course I feel awful that Ms. Nash was attacked so brutally….but it also makes me extremely angry that this poor chimpanzee was killed simply for being a chimpanzee. Sandra Herold’s ignorance about what Travis needed – i.e. to not be kept as a prisoner, basically – led to this attack, and I blame her, not Travis, for her friend’s injuries. What’s more is that the state of Connecticut (and the US as a whole) needs to take some of the responsibility for this. Herold was legally issued a permit to keep Travis as a pet. I am hopeful that animal advocates will rise to the call and try to make some legislative changes, as one has already begun to do:
“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.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Creature Talk 
[…] a stemmed glass, use the toilet, and dress and bathe himself. He brushed his teeth with a Water Read More|||Yesterday a 15 year old, 200 pound, %26quot;pet%26quot; chimpanzee, named Travis, was shot and […]
Amen!! I could not agree with you more (on all your thoughts regarding this whole sad story).
I agree that Sandy should have never been allowed to keep a chimpanzee as a pet. My heart aches for the preventable, tragic loss of Travis. Whose undeniable innocense is being mocked and his death being justified all over the media. Not surprised but still sickened by the ignorance and arrogance of society and their lack of compassion. This was not his fault nor Sandys. Our laws allowed this horrific and heart-breaking accident to happen. I believe Sandys heart is truly broken. I’ve met many people like Sandy, i.e. elderly, most loved ones have passed, has animal friend that becomes there whole life. I’ve never met anyone who shares there home with a primate however. Nontheless, conversations with such lonely souls might change your anger towards Sandy. As I stated above, she should have never had Travis in the first place. But if you’ve ever had an animal companion that passed away whether peacefully or tragically ( I truely hope you haven’t) try to recall how heart broken you were, try to image how you would feel if you lost a child. Now try to image how you would feel if you lost a child that you put in a situation that eventually caused their death. I know Travis wasn’t a child but when Sandy looked in to his eyes she saw her son, Travis. I know you’ve heard or read somewhere how people call themselves parents of there pets, i.e. dogs, cats, etc… your “typical pet”. Some even calling them their kids. I know I do and my mom is a proud grandma of 3 human boys and 3 dogs. Comparible? Maybe not. All I know is my boys including my husband consider them family and I know this will be one heartbroken house when we lose a family member. My boys will lose a 4 legged brother and I will lose a 4 legged sons. Let us not place such judgement on others who meant only to love and be loved. Instead use that energy to educate others and work to get the laws changed in Travis’ honor along with every other exotic animal that is saddenly and all to easily allowed to live in human quarters by means of negligent lawmakers. They are the only ones to blame in this case.