- [Operator] Stamford 911,
what's your emergency? - [Sandy] This is Sandy. 31 Rock. Rock Rimmon Road. - [Operator] What's the problem? - [Sandy] Send the police. Send the police! - [Operator] What's the problem there? - [Sandy] The chimp killed my friend! He's killing my friend! - [Operator] Who's killing your friend? - [Sandy] The chimp. My chimpanzee! - [Operator] Oh, your chimpanzee
is killing your friend. - [Sandy] Yes! He ripped
her apart, hurry up! - [Operator] Is the monkey
still by your friend or can you get close to your friend? - [Sandy] Yes, he's eating
her. Please, God, oh please. - [Operator] Okay, I need
you to calm down for me. I know it's hard, okay? I know it's hard. But they're going as fast
as they can your way, okay? - [Sandy] Oh my god, please. - [Narrator] Dogs, cats and birds are often kept as pets because
of the unconditional love and companionship they provide. These pets commonly become
beloved family members, but occasionally certain
people seek out other, more exotic animals, attempting to tame and
domesticate them as pets too. But how domesticated can these wild, exotic animals be? Few owners would ever consider that their beloved pets could be harboring a dark, savage side, capable of inflicting horrific damage on people and property alike. But for some exotic pet owners, when they find out the harsh truth, it's already far too late. What is up EWU crew? The shocking story we have for you today is wild, gruesome, and incredibly tragic. It's a warning to anyone who dreams of keeping an
exotic animal for a pet. In 1995 Sandy and Jerry Harold sought out a chimpanzee
breeder from Festus, Missouri who ran a sanctuary. Though they themselves
didn't operate a sanctuary, they wanted to buy a baby chimp to keep as a pet at their
home in Stamford, Connecticut. The breeder, Connie Casey, bred a male chimp named Coco, who had been taken from jungles somewhere in the broad
region of equatorial Africa in the 1970s, before being bought by Casey for $12,000, and a female chimp named Suzy, who had retired after
being on display in a zoo. On October 21st, Casey
called Sandy and told her, "Your baby has arrived. It's a boy." And to Sandy, the little chimp really would become like a baby to her. Sandy quickly set off
to meet the baby chimp she had excitedly been waiting for. But in order to take the baby from Suzy, Casey had to tranquilize
the mother chimpanzee. The baby chimp was named Travis, after the country music
singer, Travis Tritt, who was a favorite of Sandy's. As a newborn, Travis
was said to be covered in black hair everywhere,
but his pink face. Sandy had cried while
meeting the baby chimp for the first time when his tiny hands and feet grasped her own hands as she held him. Without hesitation, Sandy
paid $50,000 in cash to Casey and soon took the three-day-old
tiny chimp on a flight, and then home with her. Much like a human baby,
Sandy cared for Travis by feeding him his formula
through a bottle, burping him, and even putting him
down for naps in a crib. All the while she and
Jerry played with Travis and started to teach him
to respond in English. They taught him to brush his teeth, much like a human and even purchased an entire wardrobe for him, which they would dress
him in every morning. He often wore baseball shirts
and sometimes a baseball cap. As he quickly grew, he
started to move around more, no longer satisfied with dragging himself around on the floor. The Harolds' house was large, but not equipped to satisfy
a growing chimpanzee. They soon had to adapt their
house to fit his needs. Much of their house became
spaces designed just for Travis. Not only did they cage in
a large room, just for him, much like a bedroom, which was attached to an outdoor enclosure for him to access and
outfitted with tires and ropes, but they also gave him a few
other rooms all to himself that he would be able to move about whenever he was alone. The couple had to put a
lock on their bedroom door, but when they were home, Travis
had run of the entire house. Eventually though, Travis was
sleeping in the Harolds' room. And though they had given
him his own mattress. He often ended up sleeping
in bed with the both of them. Travis would even reportedly
join both Sandy and Jerry in the bath tub. Sandy would later remark, "Until you've eaten with a
chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp." Travis ate all of his meals
at the table with the Harolds. And as he grew older, he even began drinking wine
with dinner from a wine glass. The Harolds' entire lives
became consumed with Travis. And they even began bringing
him to their work with them. The Harolds owned a towing company and there was a large
room above their tow shop. They soon filled the
room with tire swings, ropes, and trampolines for him
to play with as they worked. Sandy had a daughter named Sue,
who had a young son, Tyler. As he grew up, Tyler would
often play with Travis, much like a human childhood friend. Even though they were
actually similar in age, Travis matured quicker than Tyler, and gentle Travis would
often care for the young boy. He was known to hold him in
his lap and give him kisses. The Harolds really did
seem to regard Travis like a human child, taking
him to the beach with them, teaching him to ride a bike, and even how to control
a ride-on lawn mower. He would water the house
plants, feed the family horses, get himself a drink from the fridge, and pour himself a glass, and even join them at restaurants. The Harolds appeared to believe that they had socialized
and domesticated Travis, and that because they treated
him like a human being, he almost was one. They didn't see him as a pet,
but as part of their family. Sandy in particular
viewed Travis as her son. Travis soon became a local
celebrity in Stamford. The police were known to
take pictures with him and strangers would approach the Harolds to have pictures taken. Sometimes even getting Travis to hold their children and pose. The Harolds eventually used him to advertise their business because he was so well-known in Stamford. Sadly, Sue, Sandy's daughter passed away in a motor vehicle accident, which sent the grieving mother
into spiraling depression. The tragedy also resulted
in her considering Travis to be her only remaining child. Travis took on the role
of Sandy's child easily, and he accompanied the
couple even more frequently. But though he often behaved
as though he was human, the Harolds would soon learn they couldn't always control him. During a drive through downtown Stamford in October, 2003, the Harolds
stopped at a red light, and for some reason, someone
threw an empty, plastic bottle into the half opened
window where Travis sat. Travis's reaction was to
grunt, unbuckle his seatbelt, open the car door and
knuckle walk across the road. While out on the street, Travis reportedly lunged
at someone walking by, before he began climbing over cars and swinging around the street. The entire time, he was
smiling and hooting, as the Harolds attempted
to get him back in the car. Nothing they did could get
him to calm down and leave. Not even their usual bribery
of cookies and ice cream. After some time, a dozen police officers were called to help wrangle
the loose chimpanzee, but he saw the officers as part of the game and
started chasing them. For two hours, Travis evaded
capture by local police. He would enter the Harolds' vehicle and then swiftly open the doors and jump out before
they could lock him in. Finally, after tiring of his game, Travis climbed into the vehicle and buckled his seatbelt to leave. The Harolds reportedly kept Travis contained in his room the next day, because he had been
grounded for his actions. Even though police all
agreed, he was being playful, it was also clear that the Harolds didn't have complete control over Travis, and that even the police
had been unsuccessful in capturing him when he was loose. The incident received a lot of attention, and because of it, the State Department of Environmental Protection
became aware of Travis. They determined that the Harolds
were violating a statute, which required them to have a permit in order to keep an exotic primate of Travis's size and weight. Despite this, they chose not
to take Travis from them, mostly because of his
status as a local celebrity, and partially because
they didn't want to appear cold-hearted and harsh. They also claimed that
they didn't believe Travis was a threat to public safety. It is important to note that most of the Stamford police officers knew Travis quite well. And almost all of them had posed with him for a photo at some point, which may have influenced
their opinions on the incident. However, an animal control officer named Lynn DellaBianca was very concerned. Officer DellaBianca
came to speak with Sandy about keeping Travis, and told her that adult male chimpanzees were as strong as five grown men and known to be unpredictably violent. DellaBianca also told her that because Travis was
now an adult at this point, he had reached his sexual maturity, and in the wild chimps would be engaging in some sort of sexual activity daily, sometimes even up to 50 times a day. Travis would have those same urges, but could become violent because of them. Even though Sandy listened
to DellaBianca's warning, she quickly dismissed the concerns as she had never seen Travis
display any kind of behavior close to violent. Still, Officer DellaBianca cautioned that Travis would live
until he was 30 or 40. And she couldn't predict his
behavior for his lifetime. DellaBianca later revealed that Sandy had expressed to her that she knew she wouldn't be able
to keep Travis forever, and that one day, he would
have to go to a sanctuary as he would become harder to
control when he got older. But, Sandy had withheld the entire truth from Officer DellaBianca. Two years prior in 2001, she had been told by Travis'
breeder, Connie Casey, that Travis' parents, Suzy and Coco, along with another chimp, had escaped from their cages. On the loose, they had allegedly
aggressively approached 17-year-old Jason Coates' vehicle. Coates claimed that he and his
friends were trapped inside as the chimps bared their teeth and rocked the vehicle. Coates eventually broke free and ran into his house to get a shotgun. By this time, Casey had
arrived and tranquilized Suzy, but she was still conscious. Though Casey had begged
Coates not to use the weapon, he was reportedly afraid of the chimp and believed she would attack. He shot her three times. Suzy died two hours after the incident. After the fact, other
witnesses came forward and said that the chimps were
being playful and friendly, and Coates served a month
in jail for property damage and animal abuse, but he still maintained that the chimps had posed a threat to him. What's more, there was an alleged incident in 1996 with Travis, where he had actually shown
that he could be aggressive. Leslie Mostel-Paul had seen Travis while he was in the Harolds' vehicle, and asked Sandy if she could
approach him to say hello. Sandy had said it was fine. But when Paul tried to shake Travis' hand, he grabbed her hand and bit her. The bite was deep enough that it drew blood. Paul later described
that she felt like Sandy was more aggravated than
upset about the incident, as if she was annoyed it had happened. Paul said that she had
to get a rabies shot just in case, because
Sandy took so long to prove that Travis had gotten his shots. Paul was so upset by the
incident that she reported it to the police, but she was disappointed when the matter was never looked into. Later, the police would claim that they never received Paul's report. In hindsight, these glimpses
of aggressive behavior were hints to the horror that
would occur in the future. Regardless of if the Harolds believed that Travis was a threat or not, they still no longer
took him out in public, as it was clear, they wouldn't
be able to capture him if he didn't want to be contained. Reportedly, the mayor at the time warned that if he got loose
again, he could be shot. Trapped at home and no
longer allowed to accompany the Harolds to work or on outings, Travis began to sulk and mope about being cooped up in the house. Around this same time,
Jerry became incredibly ill with stomach cancer,
and Sandy was spending all of her time with him in the hospital. Jerry began to worry
that if he passed away, Travis would be too much
for Sandy to take care of on her own. He even suggested that she
take him to a sanctuary. When Jerry died on April 12th, 2004, Sandy felt incredibly alone. And despite Jerry's worries, she chose to keep Travis with her. Travis also appeared to
mourn in his own way, taking the pictures of Jerry off the wall and kissing them before
holding them to his chest. He even started to take care of Sandy, filing her nails and brushing her hair when she sat crying. A year after Jerry passed, Sandy debated sending
Travis to a sanctuary, even writing a letter to the owner, but she soon changed her
mind and never sent it. Part of this decision was because Sandy and her friend, Charla Nash, a single mother, had
reunited after Jerry passed. Sandy allowed Charla
and her young daughter to live in a loft that she owned, and even offered her a job, bookkeeping for the towing business. Their friendship seemed to save Sandy from the depths of her despair, and Charla often spent time helping Sandy take care of her house as well as Travis. Charla had experience with Travis, as she had visited quite
frequently when he was younger, and he often climbed up
her legs and shoulders and played with her blonde hair. Now that she was back
involved in his life, Charla soon started making
jokes that she was Travis' aunt, as she often took care of him. For four years, Travis never left the Harold property. And in that time, the
chimp had transformed. He was 14 years old and to
due to Sandy's inability to care for him as well as she once had, he had gained enormous amounts of weight, coming in at around 240 pounds as a result of eating only
junk food, such as ice cream, popsicles, and fish and chips. He spent his time watching
one of the three TVs all day, or playing with his own
pet cat named Misty. Though Sandy appeared to be recovering from the devastating loss of Jerry, Travis' agitation grew over the years and he was often irritable. It seemed that being cut off
from the rest of the world and limited to only the house, in addition to the pain
of Jerry's sudden death caused Travis to lose
some of the sweet nature he was known for. He was particularly surly
on February 16th, 2009, just as Sandy was about
to head out of the house to meet a friend. Sandy tried to calm him by getting him to color or draw, watch TV, or eat. But nothing seemed to distract
him from his agitation. She worried about him
enough to put a Xanax pill into Travis' tea in the hopes
that he would settle down. It didn't appear to be working, as Travis took her car keys
and went out to the yard where Sandy failed to coax
him back into the house. He clearly wanted to go for a car ride, which he was no longer allowed to do, and was pacing across the yard. Panicked, Sandy called Charla. Later, there would be a
disagreement about whether or not Sandy asked Charla
to come and help her, or if Charla had volunteered
to come over herself. Either way, Charla arrived at
Sandy's house around 3:40 PM and found Travis out in the yard. At first, Charla held up an Elmo doll she had brought to distract Travis. She held the doll over her face, but he reacted in a way
she hadn't expected at all. Upon seeing her, Travis charged across the
yard, about 35 feet away, running on his knuckles in a rage, before rearing up onto his two back legs, right in front of her. Stunned, Sandy had shouted at him that it was Charla and for him to stop. But Travis didn't listen. Instead, he shoved Charla against her vehicle where she
then dropped to the ground. Seeing his sudden attack,
Sandy screamed for him to stop. But when he didn't, she
grabbed a snow shovel and hit him over the head. Despite Travis screaming as well, he didn't stop his attack on Charla, who was defenseless against
the enormous animal. Sandy ran back to the house, and grabbed a butcher's
knife to defend her friend. She stabbed Travis three times, but he didn't even slow down. Allegedly, Travis paused only once to stand up and face Sandy,
where she stood petrified. He made eye contact with her before turning away and
continuing his assault on Charla. Not knowing what else to do and fearing he would attack her as well, Sandy ran to her car where
it was parked nearby, knife still in hand and
locked herself inside. She made a frantic call to 911. Sandy sobbed while screaming
for the police to arrive. She asked for the police to bring a gun to stop her chimpanzee
from killing her friend. - [Sandy] The chimp killed my friend! - [Operator] What's the
problem with your friend? - [Sandy] Please! - [Operator] What's the
problem with your friend? I need to know. - [Sandy] Send the police out with a gun! With a gun! They gotta have their guns out. They gotta have their guns out. Listen to me. Oh my God. - [Narrator] And quote,
"He ripped her apart. Hurry up, hurry up, please." The dispatcher had reportedly
believed the call was a hoax, as they never expected to hear reports of a chimpanzee attack. - [Sandy] He's killing my friend. - [Operator] Who's killing your friend? - [Sandy] My chimpanzee! - [Operator] Oh, your chimpanzee
is killing your friend. - [Sandy] Yes! He ripped her apart. Hurry up, hurry up, please! He ripped her face off. - [Operator] He ripped her.
- [Sandy] She's dead. - [Operator] Why are you
saying that she's dead? - [Sandy] She's dead. He ripped her apart. - [Operator] He ripped
what apart? Her face? - [Sandy] Everything. - [Operator] Is the monkey
still by your friend, or can you get close to your friend? - [Sandy] He's eating her.
Please, God, oh please. - [Operator] Okay, I need
you to calm down for me. I know it's hard, okay? I know it's hard. But they're going as fast
as they can your way, okay? - [Sandy] Oh my God, please. - [Narrator] It wasn't
until Sandy screamed, "He's eating her," that they
took the call seriously. When the police finally arrived, they found Charla lying on the ground, mostly naked from Travis
ripping at her clothing. She appeared to be dead. Travis was angrily roaming the yard, but rapidly approached the police vehicle. He yanked at one of the police doors, but found it was locked, and then swung around to the other side. Here, he easily knocked off one of the side view mirrors before he yanked on the other door. This one was unlocked, and it opened. The officer on that
side was Frank Chiafari. He described that Travis was in a frenzy, and that he recognized
the chimp from his visits to the police station to take
photos with the officers. Officer Chiafari was startled by Travis' bloodstained face, and he pulled out his gun. Officer Chiafari described
the incident saying, "He gave me a split second to react. He shows his teeth, a
snarl and I see blood. I see his fangs. I just start to shoot." Travis was shot four times. And at first, he didn't react. Then he shrieked, defecated, and ran away. A group of officers set after Travis, but he managed to sneak
back into the house during the chaos and went into his room. It was there that he collapsed
from all his wounds and died. The police couldn't
have prepared themselves for the carnage that they
discovered at the scene. Shockingly, Charla was still alive, and she moved, trying to
get the officers' attention. The vicious attack resulted
in the loss of her nose, both of her eyes, her lips, and scalp. Most of the bones of her face were broken, and she had lost one of her hands, and most of the other. The injuries were horrific and extensive, and she wasn't expected to make it. But Charla was swiftly
sent to Cleveland Clinic in critical condition. And there, she underwent seven hours of life-saving surgeries. She managed to hang on. And despite all odds, she survived. Though doctors were able
to reattach her jaw, the chimp had given her an infection, which caused Charla to
become permanently blind. The story shocked the entire world. Immediately, Sandy became
the target of reporters, horrified by the shocking case. They attempted to lure her out of her house for an interview, but Sandy refused to
speak to anyone for weeks after the incident. She was often demonized in the eyes of the press and seen to be at fault
for Travis' attack. The media even went so far as to make unseemly accusations against her relationship with Travis. There were also claims that Travis had appeared on Maury Povich Show, and in a TV show with Sheryl
Crow and Michael Moore. Later, Sandy would mourn
the way she was portrayed in the media, as though she had cared more
about Travis than Charla. Sandy defended herself, saying that she stabbed her
own son, trying to save Charla. She also later described
that it felt as though she had stabbed herself, it had upset her so much. Sandy even elaborated that she believed that the moment when
Travis turned to face her, after she had stabbed him, he was asking her quote,
"Mom, what did you do?" Sandy was further horrified when she went to the
crematorium to deliver Travis' favorite tie dyed t-shirt and found out that the
chimp she thought of as her own child had been decapitated in order to have a rabies test conducted. The test results revealed that he didn't have rabies, which would have explained
his violent attack. There were other
explanations later offered for the savage attack. Though Sandy may have
viewed and treated Travis like a human son, he was a wild animal, no matter what she believed. Without knowing it, the
strangely close relationship Sandy and Jerry had with Travis may have played a role
in causing his attack. In the wild, chimps are very territorial and often get into violent altercations when they feel their space
or mate is being threatened. When Charla arrived at the house, she had a new haircut and was
driving a different vehicle, one that Travis wasn't familiar with. As Travis was so bonded with Sandy, he likely thought Charla was a threat when he didn't recognize her. Others believe that the chimp had spent 14 years of his life
repressing his true nature, because he lived like a
human being for so long. They think that the attack was inevitable, as it was only a matter of
time before the chimp would act like the animal he really was. As well, there is some debate
on whether or not the Xanax Sandy gave to Travis may
have made him more inclined to attack, as the medication
wasn't prescribed to him. In humans, Xanax can cause hallucinations, aggression and even mania. Though it is an anti-anxiety medication, it very well could have
been Sandy's attempt to calm Travis that sent
him spiraling into a rage. Sandy will later denied ever
having given Travis Xanax, but the examination of Travis' body had shown evidence of the drug. Officer Chiafari later reflected that despite Travis' devastating attack, he views the Chimp as a
victim, as well as Charla. "He should have been in the jungle where he's supposed to be, not in a house drinking
wine and taking Xanax." Reportedly, Sandy slept with
an urn every single night that contained the ashes of Travis' body. When Sandy passed away in 2010, at the age of 72, from an aortic aneurism, she was buried with the urn in her hands. Since she passed away 15
months after the attack, some have said that after
the loss of her daughter, husband and the chimp
she treated like a son, and the maiming of her close friend, she had died from a broken heart. Charla's family sued Sandy only a month after the attack. They asked for $50 million. They eventually settled on $4 million, and Charla herself then attempted to sue the state of
Connecticut for $150 million, as she claimed, they
knew Travis was dangerous from previous incidents,
but she lost the case. Many of the surgeons who
worked to save Charla, as well as the police, who responded to the horrifying incident received therapy in order to cope with what they had witnessed
and to the harrowing memories. Yet, it was Charla who
showed incredible resiliency. She later remarked in an interview, "I just want to get on with
my life and get better." On Charla's 56th birthday, only nine months after
she had been attacked, she officially revealed
her new face to the world while on the Oprah Winfrey show. Charla also explained to Oprah that she couldn't remember
much of the scarring incident, and that she didn't want to. The show shocked viewers, as Charla appeared on camera
after receiving a graft from her leg to create a nose. Though she survived numerous injuries, there was little that surgeons
could do cosmetically, as some areas of her face would never look the way they did before. For two years, Charla
underwent numerous surgeries. Though all helped to salvage her body after the savage attack, she was also the recipient
of innovative transplants. Charla underwent the
very first double hand and face transplant in the U.S. Though all transplants
were initially successful, Charla developed pneumonia
as she was healing. Her body rejected both
of the hand transplants and doctors were forced to
remove them because of infection, which caused poor
circulation in the limbs. But even after receiving the
revolutionary face transplant, which her body seemed to
be responding well to, Charla still suffered other setbacks in her road to recovery. As can occur with many transplants, her body began to
slightly reject the tissue of the transplant. She had actually taken part
in a military funded study, trying to determine
whether or not recipients of transplants can be weaned
off of anti-rejection drugs, which come with other
serious side effects. Often seeking to aid others,
Charla chose to participate in order to help military service members who become injured enough
to need transplants. Even though she risked her own body rejecting the tissue, Charla reportedly didn't
regret helping in the study, and believes the research
will help others. Once she was back on the
anti-rejection medication, her transplant was successfully accepted. She now has a nose, lips and jaw again, and her face has utterly transformed. "I just feel like it's my face. It's just not working
real good," Charla shared. Today, Charla survives with the help of an aid
who comes to her home most days of the week. Her life has been radically altered, as she is blind and has lost
the use of both of her hands. Yet, all Charla wants is
her independence back. And now, after adjustment, some days she can even function alone. She appears to just want to move forward from what happened to her. Her friends and family describe Charla as always having been a survivor. And it was her fighter
spirit that has allowed her to thrive even after so much trauma. She once said in an interview, "I know I always had an attitude
to whatever came my way. You know, I'd overcome it. I wouldn't let it hold me back." The tragic story of Travis and Charla is not an isolated incident. As there have been numerous other instances of exotic animals kept as pets who either
escape, show their wild nature, or even attack their owners. Even when these animals
appear domesticated, they are often unpredictable. If there is anything to take away from the tragedy of this tale, it is this. Exotic pets aren't safe
to be kept in the home and should be left in the wild, no matter how much they are loved.
