Chimp's Owner: "It's Just Been Hell"
Feb. 18, 2009, 10:59 a.m.
Sondra Herold spoke to My Fox NY last night and shared
Sondra Herold spoke to <a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/connecticut/090217_Chimp_Owner_Talks_to_Fox_5_News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My Fox NY</a> last night and shared photos of her pet chimp Travis
With a friend clinging to life after her pet chimpanzee mauled her, Sandra Herold tearfully told My Fox NY, "It's just been hell. There's no other way to explain it." Herold, a Stamford CT resident, tried to stop Travis the 200-poung chimp from attacking her friend Charla Nash by hitting him with a shovel and even stabbing him, but it wasn't until the police arrived and fatally shot the animal that Travis stopped. Herold was in shock, "He didn't have anything but love until this freak accident." She told the Post, "It was very difficult to do this, but I had to save my friend. I am so sorry for what happened to Charlie. She is my dear friend."
Herold had called Nash for some help because Travis was acting out—Herold had tried giving him Xanax in some tea, but he refused to drink it. When Nash arrived (with an Elmo doll to calm him down, the Daily News reports), Travis immediately charged at her. In the 911 call, Herold hysterically tells the dispatcher that Travis "tore off" Nash's face:
Herold also tells the dispatcher that the police need to shoot the chimp: "My chimpanzee! He ripped her apart! Shoot him, shoot him!" The dispatcher stays on the line and tries to comfort Herold after the gunshots. She said, "I don't blame the cop for what he did. It's a tragedy on both sides."
Nash is in critical condition, with severe injuries to her face and hands. Herold, 70, may face criminal charges; the AP says, "A pet owner can be held criminally responsible if he or she knew or should have known that an animal was a danger to others." While some animal experts are "baffled" by the attack, Nightline (video) had a segment about other pet chimps who grew up and attacked their owners (one would let a chimp groom her hair and mouth—until the day he pulled out a tooth, root and all).
