Did you hear about the chimpanzee that went berserk on his owner’s best friend??! We’ve got the scoop right here on this crazy story! Monday Sandra Harold called 9-1-1 as her 14-year old pet mauled her best friend. The damage he did to 55-year old Nash was pretty bad. He ripped up her face and hands. The 200 pound chimp, also known as Travis, was on a few Television commercials back in the day, including Old Navy. He also made an appearance on the Maury Show. His recent behavior depicted nothing close to the “normal Travis” who ate ice cream and lobster at the dining room table and combed his owner’s hair every night. His wild act even lead to his death bed when police were forced to shoot the animal and save the woman’s life.
According to Dr. Kevin Miller of the Stampford Hospital, Charla Nash suffered critical facial and hand injuries when attacked. Stabilizing her condition took more than seven hours of surgery. It took plastic surgeons, hand specialists, orthopedic specialists and trauma to help her.
The next question raised is ‘Did the owner ever give her chimp Xanax?’ Xanax is an anit-anxiety drug. Herold told the Associated Press that she never gave that drug to Travis, but she gave a completely contradicting response during an interview on the TODAY Show. In her Wednesday interview she said that she gave the chimp the drug in some tea less than five minutes before the attack and even showed the mug to the reporter. Travis was agitated earlier that day so she gave it to him to calm him down. This makes sense since the chimp is so domesticated and Herold refers to him as “her son”.
The University of Chicago chief of psychiatry, Dr. Emil Coccaro, thinks the drug could have made him worse. Xanax has side effects on humans like lack of coordination and memory loss, and it can lead to aggression in people who are already unstable.
There is a possibility of criminal charges against Herold. When police arrived on the scene Travis went after several officers. An officer shot at him several times as the chimp opened the door and tried to get into his cruiser.
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