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Chimp Shot After Vicious Attack on Woman

Victim fighting for her life after Connecticut family's pet goes berserk

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:33 AM CST

(Newser) – Connecticut police shot dead a pet chimpanzee yesterday after it critically injured a woman in a vicious attack, the Stamford Advocate reports. The owner of the 200-pound chimp stabbed it with a butcher knife after it leaped on her visiting friend for no apparent reason. A police officer who arrived on the scene shot the animal when it yanked open his car door.

The shot chimp retreated into the house and was found dead by officers who followed the trail of blood. The victim was rushed to a local hospital with severe injuries, and authorities fear she may not survive. "It was a very extreme attack, a very brutal attack," said a police spokesman. "She suffered a tremendous loss of blood, terrible facial injuries, body injuries and hand injuries."

[Images (2)]

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Travis is coaxed into a vehicle in downtown Stamford, Conn., in 2003. The 175-pound chimpanzee kept as a pet was shot and killed by a police officer yesterday. (AP Photo/The Advocate, Kathleen O'Rourke, File)

Travis sits in the corner of his playroom at the home of Sandy and Jerome Herold in Stamford, Conn., in 2003. Travis was shot and killed yesterday after attacking a woman visiting the family. (AP Photo/The Stamford Advocate, Kathleen O'Rourke)

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The chimpanzee exited the house and for some reason, we don't know what triggered it, attacked the visitor. It was a very extreme attack, a very brutal attack. - Stamford, Conn. Police Capt.
Richard Conklin

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Chimp Shot After Vicious Attack on Woman