A chimpanzee named Travis mauled his owner’s neighbor before being shot to death by police. The 200-pound animal was a veteran of television commercials. His owner was a lonely Connecticut widow. Travis ate at the table, used the toilet, bathed and dressed himself and even drank from a wine stemmed class. The chimp ate things like lobster, steak and ice cream. Something wild came out of him on Monday though.
Investigators are still searching for answers as to why the chimp behaved the way he did. Was it a reaction to drugs? A bout of Lyme disease? A case of instinct taking over? Or what?

Travis at age 10 back in 2003 at his Connecticut home
The woman he attacked is 55 year old Charla Nash. The owner, Sandra Herold, stabbed her pet companion with and butcher knife and even had to pound him with a shovel. As of Tuesday Nash was in critical condition with injuries to her hands and face.
Apparently a pet owner can face criminal charges for this kind of stuff and police are looking into that possibility in this case. If the owner should have known that an animal was dangerous to others the most likely are held accountable.
The recording of 911 dispatcher call was released on Tuesday. The grunts of Travis were heard as his owner cried that her pet was “eating” Nash and must be killed. The attack is said to have lasted about 12 minutes. I can only imagine how terrified and shocked Herold was. She even requested that police bring their gun because she thought the chimp was killing her friend. Drops of blood still stain her walkway.
Connecticut law requires anyone who owns a primate heavier than 50 pounds to obtain a state permit. But Herold was exempted from the law.
There’s still lots of question as to what provoked this kind of behavior in the chimp. According to a 2003 story in The Advocate newspaper of Stamford, Travis starred in TV commercials for Coca-Cola as well as Old Navy. He took part in a TV pilot and even made an appearance on the “Maury Povich Show”.
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