A chilling 911 call captures the moment a pet chimpanzee savaged a woman, with the animal's owner screaming in horror "he's eating her!" Sandra and Jerome Herold had taken Travis into their hearts as an adopted family member in 2001, when he was three days old.
Named after Sandra’s favourite singer Travis Tritt, the chimp grew up like any other family member, lending a hand with chores, joining the Herolds at the dinner table, watching TV, and sometimes indulging in a glass of wine or ice cream.
After Jerome died from cancer in 2004, Travis became Sandra’s sole companion at her Connecticut home. But in February 2009 disaster struck, when family friend Charla Nash, 55, popped by for a visit.
Travis unexpectedly lashed out and began mauling her, and, despite Sandra's desperate efforts, which included hitting him with a shovel and stabbing the chimpanzee in the back, she couldn't stop him. During the heart-wrenching 911 call, Sandra can be clearly heard crying out in terror, "he's eating her, he's eating her".
While pleading with emergency services in a terrifying 12-minute phone call, Sandra urged them to shoot the animal that she had lovingly raised like her child over the last 14 years.
Amidst the chaos filled with Travis's wild cries, the operator asked: "Tell me, what is the monkey doing?", as the situation spiralled beyond Sandra's control, reports the Mirror US.
Sandra can be heard screaming: "He ripped her apart! Hurry up! Hurry up! Please! He-he ripped her face off! He's eating her face!", before pleading with authorities to shoot Travis, saying "Gun! They got to shoot him! Please! Please! Hurry! Hurry! Please! I can't. I can't... He's eating her! He's eating her! Please! God! Please! Where are they? Where are they?".
The Irish Star reported that police arrived at the scene in Stamford, where officer Frank Chiafari shot Travis dead, ending the violent attack. Charla miraculously survived but suffered severe brain injuries, a torn-apart face, and a dislodged jaw. Her hands were also ripped off and her eyelids were pulled off.
The reason behind Travis's sudden violent outburst remains unclear. The chimpanzee, a local celebrity known for enjoying lobster and riding a lawnmower, had been given a strong dose of Xanax by Sandra earlier that day due to his agitated state.
Sandra suggested that Travis may have been triggered by Charla's new hairstyle, which he may not have recognised. In the critical 72 hours post-attack, Charla endured more than seven hours of surgery on her face and hands, with four surgical teams at the ready. Due to her severe injuries, hospital staff involved in her treatment were offered counselling.
Charla suffered extreme blood loss, losing half of her body's supply during the incident and later required a face transplant to survive. However, her body rejected a subsequent hand transplant.
Despite surviving, Charla was left blind and now faces a life confined to a care home. In a heartfelt conversation with Oprah Winfrey before her face transplant, she shared details about the life she cherished.
"I've never been a quitter," she said. "Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I can do."
She added: "I've lost so much independence. I could change my own truck tyre, and now I can't even feed myself."
The savage attack sparked urgent calls for updated legislation concerning the keeping of wild animals as pets. A law put into effect in 2004 by Connecticut stopped chimps of Travis' size from being housed with humans after an earlier escapade where he broke free from Sandra's car causing chaos for several hours. Nonetheless, Travis was exempted from this law since he had become a member of the Herold household before the law's enforcement.
Officer Chiafari initially struggled to receive therapy for his depression and anxiety following the attack. This resulted in proposed legislation in 2010 that would ensure a police officer's compensation for mental or emotional impairment after using justifiable deadly force to kill an animal.
