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Sports blog: Stamford Sports Scene

By CHASE WRIGHT

Times Staff Writer

and HAROLD COBIN

Times Correspondent


STAMFORD -- A Stamford police officer shot and killed a pet chimpanzee Monday after the animal brutally attacked a friend of its owner.

Police were called to the owner's home at 241 Rock Rimmon Road at 3:44 p.m. on a report that the 200-pound chimpanzee, named Travis, was attacking 55-year-old Charla Nash of Stamford.

As of Wednesday, Nash was still in critical condition at Stamford Hospital, having sustained life-threatening injuries to her face and hands and a tremendous loss of blood, said Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin.

Nash had been asked by Travis' owner, 70-year-old Sandra Herold, to come to her home to help coax Travis back into the house after he escaped by using a key to unlock the front door.

Travis then turned on Nash, bolting after her and brutally beating her in the driveway of Herold's home. Stamford police arrived shortly after the attack and were forced to kill Travis when he cornered one officer inside his police cruiser.

Police played back the horrific dispatch communication for more than a dozen members of the media who gathered at Stamford Police headquarters Tuesday evening. The audio included a wildly distraught Herold, who took refuge inside her car and pleaded for police to respond to the scene as her pet ape punched and bit the face of Nash as she lay motionless in the driveway.

"Please, you have to shoot this chimp!" Herold screamed to the dispatch unit on the other line. "He's killing my friend -- he ripped her apart!"

Communication from officers on the scene was equally gruesome. After reaching Nash in the driveway, one officer responded to dispatch, "We got to get this guy out of here, he's got no face!"

The attack on Nash was so brutal, officers couldn't decipher the gender of the victim.

The attack lasted about 12 minutes and police officers responded within five minutes of Herold's 911 call, said Conklin. Units armed with Tazers also reported to the scene, said Conklin, but weren't utilized due to the close proximity required of the weapon.

Conklin said police are continuing to investigate the incident and have not ruled out filing charges. He said police are still investigating what could have caused the chimp to suddenly go berserk, but said the department is basing its investigation on three theories -- the anti-anxiety drug Xanax given to Travis by the owner prior to the attack, reactions to any medication given to the primate for his alleged Lyme Disease and Nash's new haircut, which Travis saw for the first time Monday and could have made the Stamford resident appear to be a stranger to the chimpanzee.

The chimp's body has been split and transported to two separate locations, said Conklin. As mandated under state law, Travis' head is being tested for rabies at a lab in Connecticut. It will then be reunited with his body, which has been taken to the University of Connecticut for the autopsy, where toxicology tests will likely determine what medications Travis was taking, said Conklin.

Local animal advocates say the reason behind the attack is one based on nature over nurture.

The president of the international animal advocacy group Friends of Animals, Pricilla Feral, said when chimps reach their teen years they become increasingly rambunctious and unpredictable with their behavior.

"Keeping an animal like that as a pet and force-training it goes against all of its natural instincts," she said. "For an attack like this to happen should be expected."

Beardsley Zoo Director Gregg Dancho added that while chimps appear cute and cuddly in their early years, their natural aggressive attitudes make them unsuitable to be kept as pets. He said raising a chimp like a child, as Herold did with Travis, could make them confused in their later years, adding to their aggression.

Monday's attack has drawn national attention, as state and local officials consider passing new legislation and amending existing statues over exotic pet ownership laws.

Connecticut allows primates as pets with a state permit. The rule, passed into law in 2004, grandfathered animals who were already in the state on Oct. 1, 2003, but only for smaller species that weigh up to 50 pounds at maturity.

Talking with the state Department of Environmental Protection, Conklin said he learned the DEP overlooked this legislation and allowed the Herold's to keep Travis even though he weighed more than three-times the legal limit. According to the statute, the issuance of such permits is left up to the discretion of the commissioner.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said a state statute was passed last year in regard to the possession of potentially dangerous animals and penalties for noncompliance with the law. Primates are not on that list, but a separate statute allows any Connecticut municipality to impose its own regulations to prohibit the keeping of wild or domestic animals.

"As a matter of state law, Stamford would have the authority to take action," said Blumenthal.

Blumenthal added that his office will be requesting the legislature review the new statute and update the list of dangerous animals to include primates. He is also looking for the legislature to amend the 2004 statute, making it more specific.

"The (2004) statute gives the DEP discretion to issue regulations, but in this case it didn't do so," said Blumenthal. "That lack of regulation allowed these Stamford homeowners to keep this animal as a pet."

The attack in Stamford has even caught the attention of legislators on the other side of the country. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced Tuesday they are renewing calls for the passage of the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would prohibit interstate commerce in primates for the pet trade, making it illegal for individuals to buy or transport a pet primate across state lines.

"Given the patchwork of state and local laws, and the interstate nature of the primate pet trade, a federal response is urgently needed," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the HSUS. "Primates are wild animals who can attack and spread disease, and they don't belong in our bedrooms and basements."

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