The Connecticut widow says she still cannot fathom how that loving animal, whom she raised as her "child," could turn violent, but when he began to maul her friend Charla Nash Monday, Herold said she didn't hesitate to stop him — even if it meant killing him.
"I had to get a shovel, then a knife to get Travis off of Charlie," the visibly shaken woman said yesterday. "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."
The violence began shortly after Travis consumed a meal of fish and chips and then Carvel ice cream, Herold said. He then went outside and couldn't be coaxed back in. She tried to give Travis tea with Xanax to calm him, but he wouldn't drink it, she said.
Herold, 70, phoned Nash for help getting Travis back into the house.
"When she came out of her car that she doesn't normally drive, I don't think Travis recognized her," Herold said. "She was greeting him with a teddy bear, and that's when he went wild."
"She had just got her hair done. It used to be long and brown, but she changed it to short and blond and fluffy," she said.
When Travis unleashed his fury on Nash, Herold stabbed the chimp repeatedly with a butcher's knife and called 911.
"Oh, my God! He's eating her! He's eating her face!" she screamed. When one of the first responders arrived, he mistakenly believed that Nash — who cops said was mauled for about 12 minutes — was a man because she was so mangled.
"We got to get him out of here. He's got no face," the emergency worker said on the 911 tape.
The rampage ended when a cop shot and killed Travis.
Herold could face criminal charges, Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said.
Nash, who sustained horrific injuries to her face and hands, had surgery at Stamford Hospital and will be transferred to a hospital in Ohio for extensive reconstructive surgery, friends said.
The injuries are "life-changing, if not life-threatening," Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy said.
Connecticut is reviewing whether Herold should have even had the animal. State law requires anyone who owns a primate heavier than 50 pounds to obtain a state permit. Herold was exempt because she'd had Travis since before the law was passed.
Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, added that "over the years the animal didn't appear to present a public-safety risk."
Travis was known throughout Stamford, particularly because of a 2003 incident in which he stopped traffic after exiting Herold's car — and for his appearances in commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola.
Some neighbors say that while Travis was for the most part friendly, he did at times become aggressive.
"He attacked people quite a few times," said Don Mecca, a friend of both Nash and Herold.
Zookeepers have been lobbying Congress to make it illegal to keep such animals as pets, as it is in New York City."
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment