![]() Startled, Travis unbuckled his seat belt, opened the car door and chased the man, but did not catch him. The incident began after a pedestrian threw an empty soda bottle at the car that went through a partially open window and struck Travis while they were stopped at a traffic light. In October 2003, Travis escaped from the Herolds' car and held up traffic at a busy intersection he was on the loose for several hours. Until you've eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp." Incidents 2003 incident Sandra slept and bathed with Travis, saying after his death, "I'm, like, hollow now. ![]() ![]() Jerome died from cancer in 2004, and the Herolds' only child died in a car accident in 2000 as a result, Sandra Herold regarded Travis almost as a surrogate son and pampered him. Travis had also driven a car on several occasions. He enjoyed watching baseball on television. He logged onto the computer to look at pictures, watched television using a remote control, and brushed his teeth using a Water Pik. Travis could open doors using keys, dress himself, water plants, feed hay to his owners' horses, eat at a table with the rest of the family, and drink wine from a stemmed glass he was so fond of ice cream that he learned the schedules of passing ice cream trucks. "I just don't know why he would do that." "He listened better than my nephews," the neighbor remarked after Travis had mauled Nash. The neighbor added that the animal always knew when to stop and paid close attention to his owner. A neighbor said he used to play around and wrestle with Travis. Having grown up among people, Travis had been socialized to humans since birth. Travis became well known in the town and had been known to greet police officers they would encounter when towing cars. The Herolds owned a towing company, and Travis would pose for photos at the shop and ride with the tow truck, his seatbelt buckled as he wore a baseball shirt. Travis was the Herolds' constant companion and would often accompany them to work and on their shopping excursions in town. The Herolds raised Travis at their home at Rock Rimmon Road in the North Stamford section of Stamford, Connecticut. They named the chimpanzee after Sandra's favorite singer, Travis Tritt. Sandra and Jerome Herold purchased Travis for $50,000 from a breeder after he was taken from his mother when he was three days old. In a separate incident, Suzy was fatally shot following an escape in 2001. He was born near Festus, Missouri on October 21, 1995, at Mike and Connie Braun Casey's compound, currently named the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Travis was born to Suzy and Coco, who were imported from Africa to the U.S. On February 16, 2009, Travis attacked and mauled his owner's friend in Stamford, Connecticut, blinding her, severing several body parts and lacerating her face, before he was shot and killed by a responding police officer. Travis (Octo– February 16, 2009) was a male common chimpanzee who, as an animal actor, appeared in several television shows and commercials, including spots for Coca-Cola, as well as on television programs including The Maury Povich Show and The Man Show, though it has been disputed that Travis is the same chimpanzee who made these appearances. “A chimpanzee is a wild beast and has no business being in a private residence,” Willinger said in the statement.Chimpanzee known for attacking a friend of his owner The state cannot be sued without the claims commissioner’s approval. The state’s attorney general has sought to block the $150-million suit, but the Connecticut claims commissioner has yet to rule on whether it can go ahead. The lawsuit against Herold accused her of failing to install adequate locks and take other measures that would have prevented Travis from escaping, and giving Travis medications that “exacerbated the chimpanzee’s violent propensities.” Leone said Herold later told her everything was under control.Ĭourt papers also alleged that Travis, who in his younger days appeared in television commercials, had over the years tried to drag a woman into a car, bitten a man, and escaped Herold’s home at least once. “She was yelling at me to get my dart gun and get over there and help her,” Marcella Leone said. ![]() ![]() In a deposition filed as part of its effort to sue the state, the owner of a private zoo in Greenwich, Conn., testified that Herold had called her in a panic in 2008 - a year before Nash’s mauling - after Travis escaped. He would not confirm details of the settlement but said he and his clients felt it was “a fair compromise on all sides, and we are pleased to resolve the matter,” AP reported.Īccording to the Nash family, Travis had a history of attacking people and escaping Herold’s home. The attorney representing the estate of Herold, Brenden Leydon, disagreed. ![]()
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