Chimps in captivity are a problem.

Posted by Greg Laden on February 17, 2009
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The incident just reported an hour or so ago is unusual, but not unexpected or unheard of.

A 200-pound chimpanzee kept as a pet and once used in commercials was shot and killed by police Monday after it mauled a woman visiting its owner and later cornered an officer in his cruiser, authorities said.

Stamford police Lt. Richard Conklin said the injured woman was hospitalized late Monday in “very serious” condition at Stamford Hospital; her identity was not immediately released. Conklin said she suffered “a tremendous loss of blood” from serious facial injuries.

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Comments

  1. #1 Romeo Vitelli
    February 17, 2009

    I don’t understand why people keep insisting on keeping exotic pets despite the the risks involved. No doubt there were all sorts of warning signs that the owner ignored.

  2. #2 Valis
    February 17, 2009

    I am the acid chimp.

    But the most prophetic test, although no-one realised this at the time, was the one with the chimps. One day Rothlin injected LSD into a lab chimp, and then reintroduced the animal to its colony. Within minutes the place was in an uproar. The chimp hadn’t acted crazy or strange, per se; instead it had blithely ignored all the little social niceties and regulations that govern chimp colony life

  3. #3 alaska fishing
    February 17, 2009

    There’s a PETA ad launched locally where I am. It has a picture of a popular teen star inside a wooden cage with a chicken. The ad goes something like “imagine how it feels to be in their plate”, can’t remember exactly. The chimp in this post is much like any other human. Imagine being forced to leave away from you natural comfort zone or habitat, away from your home. Wouldn’t you feel stressed and miserable, too? And the great tragedy is that when humans freak out, they get therapy. But when this chimp freaked out, he got shot.

  4. #4 Valis
    February 17, 2009

    @alaska fishing: I really, really hope you practise catch and release.

  5. #5 marilove
    February 17, 2009

    You actually pay attention to PETA, alaska fishing? Oh, you poor dear.

  6. #6 Wayne Conrad
    February 17, 2009

    Penn & Teller’s did an editorial on PETA which is worth watching for another take on an organization that has done a good job building itself up as a “warm and fuzzy” organization.

  7. #7 marilove
    February 17, 2009

    Wayne, did you see their most recent “campaign?” Comparing the KKK to pure breed dogs. It’s … offensive, to say the least. And of course they just love to objectify women. Constantly. They are sexist and crazy. Did you know they don’t believe in pets? As in, humans should not have pets? Ever?

  8. #8 Jackal
    February 17, 2009

    marilove said “Did you know they don’t believe in pets?”

    What do they think would happen to all those animals in the shelters if people didn’t addopt them as pets? What do they think should happen to them? Should we set them free to live in the streets, get hit by cars, poisoned, die of disease, starvation and/or exposure? I swear, they must not think their ideas through.

  9. #9 Stephanie Z
    February 17, 2009

    Jackal, they’re not talking about letting them go.

  10. #10 Katrina
    February 17, 2009

    Now they are reporting that the chimp had Lyme disease. There is apparently some speculation that the attack may have been a result of that.
    http://www.wfsb.com/news/18726175/detail.html#-

  11. #11 Ana
    February 17, 2009

    The chimp had been dosed with Xanax.

  12. #12 Greg Laden
    February 17, 2009

    It is pretty common for chimps to be on psychotheraputics.