February 19, 2009

"He was my life. I raised him from 3-and-a-half weeks old... He slept with me every night, he combed my hair. Everything in the house is for him...."

"For me to do something like that, put a knife in him, was like putting one in myself, and then he turned around and was like, 'Mom what did you do?'"

***

I'm sorry but I can't look away from the ghastly chimp story. There are enough gruesome images already, and now I've got to picture a 70-year-old woman sleeping in bed with a 200-pound ape. Come on! How could this go on for years?

ADDED: "In here. I put him on my massage table in front of the fire. He always liked fires and poking at them with a stick. I've made up my mind, we'll bury him in the garden. Any city laws against that? I don't care anyway. I want the coffin to be white. I want it specially lined with satin. White. Or deep pink. Maybe red. Bright, flaming red."

65 comments:

rhhardin said...

Animals don't care if you're old and ugly.

Ron said...

See what women put up with if you're good in the sack...

KCFleming said...

"In the meantime, to prevent another tragedy, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection is pushing for a new law barring people from owning large primates."

Does that mean I can't visit Stamford now?

Damn, that's harsh.

Jason (the commenter) said...

People like the illusion of unconditional love pets give them. Even though their pet has no choice in the matter and has to act the way it does in order to get fed.

And the exotic nature of the pet makes the owner feel even more special because others give them attention whenever they go for a walk.

She lived in a fantasy world. It was decadent. Now it's over. A woman of her times.

KCFleming said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KCFleming said...

Every Which Way But Taxi Driver

Charly Nash: Hey Travis, look. Elmo! Want Elmo? Elmooooo!

Travis the Chimp: You talkin' to me?
You talkin' to me?
You talkin' to me?
Then who the hell else are you talking-- You talking to me?
Well, I'm the only one here.
Who the f*ck do you think you're talking to?
Oh, yeah?


Charly Nash: Leggo my face, Travis. Owwie, dude.

Travis: Listen, you f*ckers, you screw-heads.
Here is a chimp who would not take if anymore.

[Travis is knifed]

Travis: Mom, what did you do?

Sandy Herold: O heavens! O chimp, look how my son bleeds!
This dagger hath mista'en--for, lo, his house
Is empty on the back of the devil,
And it mis-sheathed in my son's bosom!

John Burgess said...

Pogo: Nope, it just means no-one can own you while you're visiting Stanford. You might make use of this to test the law in your own version of Dred Scott.

Oh... and hope that there's not a Taney in your courtroom.

save_the_rustbelt said...

My wife called me a crazy gorilla a few nights ago.

I think she meant it as a compliment.

Well, at least she didn't stab me or call the cops.

Tibore said...

"For me to do something like that, put a knife in him, was like putting one in myself, and then he turned around and was like, 'Mom what did you do?'"

Like I said in the previous thread: Anthropomorphization. I rest my case.

Michael Haz said...

It's a strange world that glosses over the beheading of a muslim woman in Canada but can't let go of the story about a deranged woman grieving over the killing of her chimpanzee while it was eating her friend.

Anonymous said...

"Surrounded by pictures of the chimp she raised as a child, Herold said she keeps reliving the trauma of that chimp viciously attacking her best friend." (Emphasis added)

Child?

That's a quote from the "reporter", Tony Aiello, not from anyone directly tied up in this manage รก animal ferme.

Hmmmmmmm.

child, n

1 an unborn or recently born person
2 a young person especially between infancy and youth b: a childlike or childish person c: a person not yet of age
3 a son or daughter of human parents

Not to upset anyone, but is this a glimpse at the next act in political correctness theater?

Ed said...

It is, I think, related to a previous topic about talking to strangers. We don't do that in CT, it's not in very good taste to let your ape-fancying neighbor know that you disapprove, as long as the chimpanzee stays off your lawn.

Cedarford said...

Amazing how this deranged old bat is talking about her deceased companion/beast/lover and what sort of extravagent coffin she will bury him in while her EMPLOYEE struggles for life.

If she wants the deluxe funeral for studly Travis, she better spend the money fast before the victims lawyers and hospital's lawyers seize every asset she has.

Chimp ate most of her face away, including nose, lower jaw, both eyes. I wonder if they cut the chimp open to see if any "bits" it swallowed were salvagable for retransplantation.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/02/18/2009-02-18_charla_nash_lost_eyes_nose_and_jaw_in_ch.html

The victims brother thanked 4 teams of medical people at Stamford Hospital for keeping Charla Nash alive. Why, I don't know.

rhhardin said...

People don't anthropomorphize enough, having been scrared off by psych 101 courses.

Psych 101 has its own agenda.

Vicki Hearne on licking behavior in mother cats.

KCFleming said...

The Michael Scott Decision
Michael Scott v. Stamford

Michael Scott [to the court]: "I’m an early bird and a night owl. So I’m wise and I have worms. "

Chief Justice Taney: "Michael Scott the chimpazee is one of the beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the human race, either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that he has no rights which man was bound to respect."

Michael Scott : That's what she said

Michael Scott [remarking on the decision]: "It's simply beyond words. It's incalculable. I don't want any special treatment. I just want you to treat me like you would a family member who's undergone some sort of serious physical trauma. I don't think that too much to ask.

I was shocked when Justice Taney told me he was rejecting my move to Stamford. But I suppose it's like with fireman, you don't leave your brothers behind. Even if you find out that there is a better fire in Connecticut."

TitusIsReadyToPinchALoaf said...

I told you she was doing the Chimp.

My rare clumbers love me and not just for food. For example this morning they jumped on the bed and both got on each side of me and cuddled. No food was involved.

rhhardin said...

The old lady isn't following the media narrative and must be punished.

One thing to come from it will be bad law. Let no crisis go unused.

Bissage said...

She was into chimp lust?

You mean she seriously dug a guy who was short, hairy, dumb, impoverished and emotionally needy with a tiny penis?

Cool!

There's hope for me yet!

Cedarford said...

"Herold would frequently tell those who questioned her devotion to Travis that they simply did not understand.
"Until you've . . . eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp," she said."

Not that there is anything wrong with that, said the vapid Sandra Day O'Connor when she set the ball rolling in Lawrence v. Texas to legitimize anal gay prostitution, which of course led to judges sanctifying gay marriage, which led to polygamist lawsuits, which now is leading to declaring beastiality an acceptable lifestyle choice.

rhhardin said...

If she's like most animal people, she likes that the animal likes being with her.

She likes being needed.

It's if anything the opposite of sexual.

TitusIsReadyToPinchALoaf said...

Could not agree with you more Cedarford regarding the gays and Sandra O'Connor.

She probably had some pussy in her day and as a result sided with the gays.

mrs whatsit said...

Michael Hasenstab, I couldn't agree with you more -- except that the woman was beheaded in New York State, not in Canada. The crime took place in Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo.

Darcy said...

Oh, no! Grown up chimp slept with "Mom"? TMI. Ack. If there are future disclosures of monkey sex please look away, Althouse!

Curtiss said...

On MSNBC, Leslie Mostel-Paul was just interviewed, and she claimed that Travis bit her on the hand in 1996. The bite was serious enough to require that she get rabies shots which are quite unpleasant.

She also alleges that she reported this incident to the Stamford police who assured her that it would be "taken care of". Clearly it wasn't.

I know that Travis was somehow "grandfathered in" and was exempt from a law regulating the ownership of pets like him, but did that somehow make him exempt from biting complaints?

What dog in Stamford is afforded such immunity.

Or was Travis such a local hero that his indiscretions were overlooked by the locals? Man-about-Town Travis.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that there's plenty of negligence to go around here.

Bob From Ohio said...

First time poster, long time lurker.

Wanted to say that the comments on yesterday's chimp posts were outstanding.

Am I bad to laugh so much about what is so tragic for the half-eaten woman?

Big Mike said...

Michael Hasenstab, I've been wondering that myself.

Leland said...

Well, if she had chimp lust, she's a bit of a pedophile too. The chimp was only 14.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Puts a whole new spin on "monkey sex" **

Yes. I know Chimps are not monkeys. Sick relationship and a terrible outcome for everyone, including the Chimpanzee who would have been better of left alone.

Clyde said...

One story I read about Ms. Herold noted that she was a lonely widow whose only daughter had died in a car accident. She obviously turned those feelings of loss into caring for the chimp. Did she overdo it, substituting a chimp pseudo-child for her dead daughter? Sounds like it.

As for poor Charla Nash, I truly hope that she dies without regaining consciousness. That sounds horrible, I know, but if she survives, every moment of the rest of her life will be physical and mental torment. It would have been far more humane for them to let her die, given the extent of her injuries. Sometimes people are better off dead.

KCFleming said...

"Am I bad to laugh so much about what is so tragic for the half-eaten woman?"

Of course you are.
And we are bad to have written them.

Any way, you know what the cop said to Travis when they came upon the scene?

1) You want fries with that?

2) I don't know her name, but the face rings a bell.

3) Travis was in Silence of the Lambs? Weird!

4) Again?!? Oh, Travis. What're we gonna do with you? [cue silly sitcom music: wa-wa-wa-waaaaaaaah]

MadisonMan said...

I didn't realize -- 'til seeing it here -- that her jaw was eaten, but it occurred to me yesterday that she's a good candidate now for a face transplant. But I guess she'd need a jaw implant first. It is a blessing that Travis ate her eyes so she can't see what happened?

JAL said...

As for the wannabe news maker who said she was bit in 1996: I think (math is not my strong suit) that means Travis the Chimp was .... 1?

So it really isn't all that newsworthy. At that point in time I don't think anyone had any idea she would keep the animal to middle life 200 lb adulthood.

I think what we are seeing is another sad case of mental illness which was rather functional.

We have the octo-(what is 14 in latin?) mom, who is clearly mentally ill (and had a psychiatrist who should have noticed -- and probably did, but wasn't consulted prior to the implantations, obviously ...) and the chimp owner who formed an attachment to a animal who tried to kill and eat her friend in front of her, and cannot even begin to go to what that means in her head...

Two very, very sad stories.

William said...

In NYC one observes well dressed women picking up dog shit with delicate, conscientious gestures. These look like the kind of anal retentive women who nag their husbands about raised toilet seats. I wouldn't be surprised if they use pillow shams to hide the ugliness of naked pillows, but there they are picking up dog shit.....I know there is something subliminal and unspeakable going on with young girls and horses. I wonder if primates exert the same dark allure upon women. Diane Fossey, Jane Goodall, and that chick who taught Koko how to sign were all women. With the exception of Tarzan and Ronald Reagan, men generally keep their attachment to monkeys in check. Perhaps there is a beauty and the beast dynamic working and women find apes sexy.

Unknown said...

The police and the city did nothing about Travis because, I believe, they have been indoctrinated into making "brave" decisions that allow unpopular people (or apes) have as much freedom as they want.

Of course, if you had every grievance monger and activist group up your butt every time you arrested someone, you might too.

Anonymous said...

To me the worst thing about this horrific case is that it will add more suspicion and prejudice to the already stigmatized name of Travis.

I'm not a Travis but I know that most Travisesesesss are decent, law abiding and peaceful people.

It's been a few decades since the tragic Travis Bickle issue.

And now this. Sad.

rhhardin said...

Vicki Hearne on how chimp stories end.

Read that and following for the familiar story; and the comparison with dogs, which go the opposite way: the dog may start wild and uncontrollable but ends up a respectible citizen in the living room.

Othello is mentioned.

Ann Althouse said...

Something must have been done to remove the ape's sexual desires, don't you think? Otherwise, how could the ape have just slept in bed with her... unless it actually had sex with her -- raped her really, wouldn't it? I'm very troubled by this.

TitusFreezeFrame said...

It wasn't rape. It was consensual. She had a hankering for Chimp Hog.

Let's not judge. At least she was getting some.

I wonder if she blew him?

TitusFreezeFrame said...

She was definitely spanking the monkey.

I bet there is monkey splew all over her bedroom.

TitusFreezeFrame said...

I love my rare clumbers to death but would never touch their peepees. That is gross.

I was tempted though to go to one of those gay marriage rallies with my rare clumbers and a sign that said "I want to marry my rare clumbers".

But I didn't.

Fucking fags. Hate them.

TitusFreezeFrame said...

I am kind of scared that I am likely going to turn into her. Sleeping with my dogs, catering to everything they want.

No combing hair though.

I like sleeping with my dogs but they get too hot. I don't even sleep in my bed much anymore. I sleep on the couch by them. I don't care if I am uncomfortable. Just love being by them. I love hearing them snore and they snore loud.

rhhardin said...

I don't know that human anatomy appeals to chimps. It's a pretty specific (little etymological pun there) anatomical pattern that trips off the neurons in the unfortunate guy.

rhhardin said...

I assume she does not put lipstick on her ass.

TitusFreezeFrame said...

I bet that lady put peanut butter up her cooch and had Travis lick it out.

I saw a porn video of a woman doing it with a chimp. And another one with a woman doing a horse.

TitusFreezeFrame said...

Where did the monkey pinch his loaves?

TitusFreezeFrame said...

My rare clumbers have no balls. They are fixed. I can't even see their hogs because they have so much hair around them.

lowercase said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lowercase said...

Just another chimp story to piss you off. I once went to the Ojai Institute - a very organic place with yurts and such. In a journal on the grounds (archeology, anthropology? Can't remember) was a story of an ape that was kept as a pet by a bunch of Richard Leaky types. The ape began to think it was human. It became sexually frustrated. Trying to gauge it's position in the hierarchy, it decided it was about on the level of the maid/housekeeper and leapt on her and sexually assaulted her. Yes, the ape was raping the help.

And, here's the kicker, THE ACADEMICS LET IT HAPPEN. They were being understanding. They considered it somewhat dangerous. They actually placed their concern for the animal over the human. I wonder if the ape had jumped one of their wives if their reaction would have been the same.

Bob W. said...

Al Sharpton is apparently upset with an anti-stimulus cartoon evoking the image of the bullet-ridden chimp, decrying it as racist.
If only a distraught clown had gone berserk in Stamford, CT a few days ago, instead of the ape. Most people hate clowns, and there are no clown advocacy groups to my knowledge. . .

rhhardin said...

Sharpton is concerned that racial tripwires should always continue to exist.

And this after Chimpy McHitler was such a gentleman in the transition.

Cedarford said...

rhhardin said...
I don't know that human anatomy appeals to chimps.


Clearly it does.

They, from the pattern in attacks, seem to find facial parts, genitals, and fingers the tastiest parts of human anatomy.

And the fresher the better.

I am reminded of the Chinese and Japanese sushi chefs known to slice parts off living, writhing fish, lobsters, octopus in front of customers and serve them so they know they are getting the freshest flesh possible.

Human fingers likely add "crunch" and texture to the dining experience. Similar to egg rolls.

KCFleming said...

Crunchy Frog
Monty Python

"If we took the bones out it wouldn't be crunchy would it?"

Cedarford said...

TitusFreezeFrame said...
She was definitely spanking the monkey.

I bet there is monkey splew all over her bedroom.


Mental image of CSI-Stamford asking CSI-NY to send Gary Sinease's team in toute-suit. Up to the multimillion mansions of the decadent rich in N Stamford..

"Chief! My UV is showing chimp splooge all over the exercise bike built for two."
"Jan, I'm in the master bedroom. There's an unopened bottle of champagne in a bucket next to the bed. A mirror on the ceiling. We seem to have located a black leather mask and a chimp suit about the woman's size in the closet.
Honestly, I'm scared to turn on my own UV light while I'm alone in this room. Please come here. I need you"
"What happened to the big, know-everything Chief. 'Fraid of a little Chimp cum?"
"I don't know what it is with women and their animal companions. I told you when we went to that crime scene where we found that the woman was just eaten to the bone by the 66 cats and millions of lice in the home that you women are just to wierd to understand. That's a reason you are on the CSI Team, Jan. Cases like this. Where you make some sense out of it and make the Final Report fly.."
"Look, Chief, I don't like the insinuation. I don't fuck pets or sleep with them."
"Wait until you're older. Unless you get married soon. Or get remarried. It's a chick thing. But honestly, aren't dildos and vibrators cheaper and less dangerous than a chimp, or living with 66 cats? You know, the insurers found that it was easier to burn that cat lady's house than clean it? "

Sinease then turns on the UV light, and scans the Herold master bedroom in a custom Jerry Bruckheimer 360 DEG rapid pan shot.
"OH - My -GOD!"

William said...

Althouse misses the real appeal for a woman in sleeping with an ape: the ape is a big hairy beast who does not want to have sex--it just wants to cuddle and groom.....I have seen many female homo sapiens in their native habitat in Bloomingdale's and Bergdorf's. They are pretty creatures who can sit by the mirror looking at shiny objects all day. They look gentle and tame, and many a man, ignorant of animal behavior thinks they would make a fine domestic pet. Sadly this is not the case. They go for the soft ends of the credit card first and then keep biting thru the 401K.. Seemingly innocent phrases like "window treatment" can cause them to burst into uncontrollable paroxysms of spending. There are many well behaved examples of homo sapiens f. but those that roam wild thru such habitats as Saks and Bloomingdale's are best left in the wild.

Chris Althouse Cohen said...

Have y'all heard the 911 call? It's disturbing to listen to. You can hear the chimpanzee in the background, and she tells them to shoot him, that the attacked friend is dead, and that she won't last long if they don't kill the chimp. It's particularly upsetting if you know she was deeply in love with the animal.

Trooper York said...

"I assume she does not put lipstick on her ass."

RH you freak me out dude.

Skyler said...

I think this woman needs a lawyer.

And a shrink. In that order.

rhhardin said...

"I assume she does not put lipstick on her ass."

RH you freak me out dude.


I get my information from the New York Times.

The baboon voyeurs did not respond to just any female. The female baboon had to appear to be in heat, which the researchers simulated by attaching a red plastic mold to her rear. As with men at a strip club, it took a crude illusion of sexual receptivity to jolt their endocrine systems.

Trooper York said...

The fact that you get your information from the New York Times freaks me out even more dude.

Palladian said...

The fact that there are red plastic baboon ass covers available on the open market freaks me out more than anything.

traditionalguy said...

This reminds me of the times when drawing a will a lady who loves her animal and has no worthy heirs leaves her estate to the animal(s). In legal terms we draw a trust naming her favorite animal-lover friend(They always have a circle of animal-lover friends) as trustee to hold title to the assets with care instructions for paying the expenses.The last draftsman's question is what about final disposition of the remainder corpus upon the animal's death. The answer is usually,"my friend the trustee can keep any money not spent"...I usually wait 30 seconds in silence and then ask them to "think about that". Suddenly the sweet look leaves their now angry face and they say," He would never do that!" It's easier if they name a lineal descendant in line.But Titus can always leave his Clumber Spaniels to me, with or without a Trustfund.

Trooper York said...

"The fact that there are red plastic baboon ass covers available on the open market freaks me out more than anything."

The fact that you know that freaks me out more than anything.

Roberto said...

It is estimated that two percent of the US population, 4.7 million people, are bitten each year.

In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while in the 2000s this has increased to 26.[

77% of dog bites are from the pet of family or friends, and 50% of attacks occur on the dog owner's property.

rhhardin said...

Ohio's vicious dog law says (or used to say, if it's been changed) that no dog will be deemed vicious if it bites while being tormented.

5-9 year old males are mysteriously bitten at four times the rate of females.

The later reflection of the normal male in normal times would be ``and so that's when I learned not to do that.''

KCFleming said...

"The fact that you know that freaks me out more than anything."

The fact is, now I know that, which freaks me out.