Personal Injury Law

Chimp Attack Brings Eventual Injury Lawsuit

By mbrickley

According to a New York Times article, a Stamford, Conn. woman was attacked by a 200 lb chimpanzee called Travis. The beloved animal was shot down by the Stamford Police after the attack.

Travis lived with his owner, Sandra Herold, and was well known around town starring in several commercials.

Earlier in the day, Travis was being uncooperative and refused to go back inside the home. Herold gave the chimp tea laced with Xanax to calm him down. She claimed she did this only due to his extreme agitation and this was not a common occurrence.

Herold then called her friend Charla Nash over for help.

When Nash arrived at the Herold household, she received a less than warm welcome. As she stepped out of her vehicle, Travis ran at her full force and began to pounce on her. Nash suffered severe injuries to her hands and face.

Herold ran inside the house to call 911 and grabbed a butcher knife. She then ran back outside to the aid of her friend and stabbed her chimpanzee repeatedly to stop the attack.

After Travis attacked Nash, he roamed around Herold?s property; then focused his attention on the responding police officers. The policemen retreated to their vehicles.

When Travis attempted to open the doors, an unnamed police officer shot the chimp to protect himself as the animal had him cornered.

Herold had raised Travis since he was a baby chimp and she claimed he was a well trained chimpanzee. He was toilet trained, ate at the table, dressed himself, logged onto the computer and watched television.

But this was not the first time authorities chased Travis around. Back in 2003, the chimpanzee ran loose around the downtown area. It took police over two hours to get the animal subdued.

According to the New York Times, authorities claimed the chimpanzee may have had Lyme disease which is a tick born bacterial infection. In rare cases the disease can cause psychosis, severe anxiety, and delusional behavior.

Nash was taken to the hospital for her injuries and was in critical condition. According to an MSNBC article, Nash was permanently blinded from the attack and is still being treated at a clinic in Ohio for her injuries.

Nash?s family recently filed an injury lawsuit against Herold for $50 million. They claimed they might pursue lawsuits against the state of Connecticut and the city of Stamford for allowing the Herolds to keep the chimpanzee in the home.

The family also claimed both city and state ignored the warning signs of the potential dangers of keeping a chimpanzee in a domesticated area.

Herold and two other officers suffered minor injuries from the chimpanzee the day of the attack.

Full post as published by The Injury Blog on November 24, 2009 (boomark / email).