Woman mauled by pet chimp Travis in critical condition after surgery at Conn. hospital

This is truly scary - have they not seen the film Link? Everyone knows that chimpanzees can be vicious animals. It sure does bring into focus the laws (or lack of) that allows individuals to keepp these beasts in thier homes. And in this case the ape had escaped and caused mayhem on previous occasions. Why where they allowed to keep it? It is a wild animal.

The Connecticut woman brutally mauled by a gigantic pet ape remained in critical condition Tuesday, officials said.

Charla Nash, 55, suffered massive injuries to her face and hands after her friend's 200-pound chimp, Travis, suddenly pounced on her Monday.

Nash had surgery last night at Stamford Hospital and was doing "okay," her sister-in-law, Kate Nash said.

Nash suffered what Stamford Mayor Daniel Malloy described as "life-changing, if not life-threatening injuries" after Travis got his hands on house keys and escaped from his home.

Travis attacked Nash as soon as she got out of her car to try to help his owner, Sandy Herold, get the ape back in his cage, said Stamford, Conn., police Capt. Rich Conklin.

Herold, stabbed Travis with a butcher knife and struck him with a shovel in a bid to end his rampage, police said.

But the normally docile chimp, who starred in a TV commercial for Old Navy cargo shorts and enjoyed human activities like drinking wine and surfing the Internet, could not be stopped.
When cops drove up around 4 p.m., the burly ape tore off a cruiser's side mirror and opened the door.

The officers had "nowhere to retreat," Conklin said, and shot him several times.

Bleeding from stab wounds and gunshots, 15-year-old Travis staggered down the driveway and into Herold's house, where he collapsed and died in a zoolike cage the size of a room.

Conklin said it wasn't clear what set the chimp off, but theorized Travis' bout with Lyme disease - which can cause panic attacks, paranoia, personality changes and mood swings in people - could be connected. Travis was taking medication for the disease, Conklin said.

"These actions have not been seen in the chimpanzee before. This animal had been raised as a member of the family," Conklin said.

Herold, 70, had given the pyscho simian tea with Xanax to calm him down just before Nash arrived, cops said, and called 911 as the chimp mauled her friend.

A 911 dispatcher could hear the animal screaming in the background as he ripped into the victim.
Herold told cops that Travis may not have recognized Charla Nash because she wore her normally long, flowing hair up Monday.

Herold and her husband, Jerome, who treated Travis almost like a child after the death of their daughter more than a decade ago, were distraught.

Conklin said the couple had owned Travis for close to 14 years.

Herold's friend Lynn Mecca said Travis had known Charla Nash for years.
"I don't know why he would do that," she said.

But Mecca's ex-husband Don Mecca said the ape had a mean streak and often was aggressive. He said he had warned Nash to be careful around Travis. "I told her, 'Charla, don't get close to that monkey when he is not in that cage,'" Mecca said.

Nash's brother Steve said his sister was aware Travis could be moody.
Travis was known to the town cops because they worked with the Herolds' towing company, Desire Me Towing. He would ride in the trucks, waving.

When the Herolds' daughter was killed in a car crash, the ape appeared to mourn, holding her photo sadly, they told the paper.

In October 2003, the chimp made headlines when he jumped out of his owners' SUV and commandeered a major intersection, holding cops at bay for two hours.

Travis had been in the vehicle when it stopped at a light, and someone in the next vehicle threw something at him, hitting him through an open window.

He unbuckled his seat belt and jumped out of the vehicle, wanting to play.
Cops arrived in a dozen cruisers but could not corral Travis, who was capering in the street, occasionally rolling on his back and charging at officers.

Officers, who had no tranquilizer gun, tried using cookies, macadamia nuts and ice cream to lure Travis into a cruiser. Nothing worked until he tired and got back into the Herolds' SUV.

No charges were filed in that case. It is not illegal to own an exotic pet in Connecticut.
"That was more mischievous than vicious," Conklin said. "It became something of a legend."
Travis was also something of a celebrity in his younger days.

He co-starred with Morgan Fairchild in an Old Navy ad, filmed a TV pilot and appeared on "The Maury Povich Show."

"Our closest relatives, we would like to think they can be domesticated," Malloy said Monday night.
"Unfortunately, this is not always the case."