Crazed Chimpanzee Mangles Woman's Face



Travis the Chimpanzee

Eight months ago a woman named Charla Nash was viciously attacked by a crazed Chimpanzee. Travis, the 15-year old Chimpanzee was a 200 lb, house trained Chimpanzee who had been raised from birth by his owner Sandra Herold in Stamford, Connecticut. Travis had previously appeared on several TV shows and commercials and was a very intelligent primate. Travis was reportedly suffering from Lyme disease (bacterial infection spread through the bite of the black legged tick) and had ingested the drug Xanax which can alter behaviour and trigger aggression. Charla, a good friend of Sandra Herold’s had been on her way over to Sandra’s home to help Travis settle back down after escaping when she was attacked by Travis who proceeded to rip her apart. The emergency call made by Sandra Herold shows just how shocking the attack was, "He's killing my friend!'' Sandra screamed to the 911 operator.

"Who's killing your friend?,'' the emergency operator asks.
"My chimpanzee! He ripped her apart! Shoot him, shoot him!'' While waiting for police to respond to the scene, Sandra attempted to stop the attack by stabbing Travis with a butcher’s knife and hitting him with a shovel. Sandra explains the Chimps reaction to her efforts to stop his attack as "He looked at me like, 'Mum, what did you do?'' Left nearly dead, Charla lost her nose, mouth, both eyes, eye lids, and all of her fingers. Travis was shot dead after attacking police officers which had responded to the call. After eight months of recovery, Charla finally revealed her horrifying facial injuries live on the Oprah Winfrey show after being told of a bounty that had been raised for her photo by U.S tabloids. The Nash family is now suing the owner of Travis the Chimpanzee, Sandra Herold for over $28 million dollars.

Charla Nash before & after the attack

I personally think, although it was a very tragic incident, that the owner should be held completely responsible for Travis’ attack on Charla Nash. I do not believe that animals of that size should be legally allowed to be house pets. Not only is it ridiculous to own a pet that is 200 lb, it is very dangerous as shown by this brutal attack. Travis lost his life because he somehow got his hands on Xanax drugs after escaping from his cage. It is not his fault that he got into it, he did not know any better and he should never have been exposed to anything that would alter his behaviour in such a way. I think that laws should be changed to prevent animals over a certain size and weight to be banned from being house pets. Not only for the safety of the general public from accidents such as this one, but for the safety and health of the animal. I think that Charla Nash’s family is right to sue Sandra Herold, and hopefully Charla Nash and her family will be able to enjoy the rest of their lives despite her injuries.

Mail Online, "Woman who had most of her face torn off by crazed Chimp speaks for the first time", November 2009, By Paul Thompson

Sources: http://www.perthnow.com.au/chimp-rips-womans-face-off/story-fna7dq6e-1111118898149

              http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226985/Woman-face-torn-crazed-chimp-speaks-time.html