An unfortunate incident happened a couple of years ago whereby Sandra Herold (owner of a 90Kg Pet Chimp (as you do) named Travis) invited her friend Charla Nash (ofcourse an expert in getting a 90kg Chimp under control, NOT! ) to help her get Travis back into his cage.
Unfortunately Charla received heavy facial injuries resulting in a full face reconstruction costing : “….Charla Nash lost her nose, lips, hands, and an eyelid in the February attack in Connecticut, and doctors have since removed her eyes because of infection…’
The police came and “… shot and killed the animal when they arrived on the scene. ” Have they heard of tranquilizer guns or do the American police force simply like to shoot to kill. If that’s the case, go to Afghanistan and you’ll have fun there.
Charla was remarkably courageous to have gone to help her neighbour but Sandra was foolish in requesting assistance from her. Why would Travis listen to Charla and not the owner, that’s known Travis for most of his life. What makes me think that the IQ of Travis was far greater than Sandras.
First of all, Rule No 1: Sandra should not have had a chimp as a pet. Cute and cuddly as they are when young, when an adult, they have far more strength (in-fact 4x as much strength as a male adult). Chimps belong in the wild! Get the picture. Seeming how close they are to humans, would you Sandra, like to be caged up ?
If you could not handle your own pet, by inviting a friend to help, you were responsible for the injuries she received. But yet the Chimp paid with his life.
Then comes the suing culture in the US. “The chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, died last year but the Nash family is suing her estate for $50m (£31m) for negligence and recklessness. They also hope to sue the state for $150m, saying the authorities failed to prevent the attack.” Charla if you so believed that Travis should not have been a pet, did you do your bit and notify the State ?
Good luck Charla and bid you quick and full recovery.
Travis – RIP. Never asked to be caged up. Never asked to be captured.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8356088.stm – when incident happened.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ – Latest update on Charla
Animals Do Have A Voice Blog 