No More Chimps in Our Neighborhoods

There's an editorial in the Greenwich Time from Thursday called "Ban the possession of wild animals." It's obviously about last week's chimp attack. I totally agree with this line: Keeping a wild animal poses a threat to neighbors, none of whom signed up to share a street with one, and -- as this case showed -- police, who would be the ones called when something goes wrong.

There are many terrible aspects to the chimp situation- I most think about the injured woman, the dead chimp, and his owner who must be devastated- but it's maybe more important to think about the other people who could have been hurt by the chimp who weren't even given the option of avoiding him. The chimp's owner was keeping him in a residential area- an area where children play. When Travis got loose last week, and probably on other days, he could have hurt someone who did not even realize he lived nearby. I heard from a North Stamford parent who had been playing outside with his kids when he saw the cop cars; he'd had no idea a chimp was living a few streets over. That's just scary.

Not only was Travis a wild animal, not made for domestic life, he was huge. At least a dog that gets loose will weigh less than Travis' 200 pounds; a parent would have a chance in pulling it off their child. It's insane that the state let someone keep a large animal that's known to be violent when it hits puberty.

I, like many people I know, am trying not to think about the chimp thing too much- it's overall a very sad situation. I think all we can do is move on and try not to let this happen again; banning exotic pets is a basic step in that. No one in a residential area should own a chimp, a poisonous snake, or any animal that can hurt a person.

And I just have to say, poor Travis. I obviously feel worse for the people involved, but when I look at pictures of the chimp, I feel bad he met such a violent end. He was living in an environment for which he simply was not intended. He was a wild animal, not of a species like dogs or cats whose aggression has been bred out for thousands of years. From what I read, his aggressive behavior was pretty normal for a chimp. I hope people will learn from this and stop keeping animals that are not made to be pets.

Like the Greenwich Time editorial suggests, go to the shelter and get a dog or cat if you want to nurture something. If you're looking for an unusual thrill... go skydiving. Don't get a monkey, or a prairie dog, or an alligator; they probably do not want to be with you, and it's not fair to do that to them.

Added 2/22: Advocate article: State: No primates registered in Connecticut

Connecticut officials said 11 permits have been issued since 2005 to state residents to own non-domestic animals, and none have been requested or issued to own a primate. But neither the state nor municipal animal control officers know how primates may be illegally owned statewide along with pets such as crocodiles, poisonous snakes and other exotic animals, said Edward Parker, chief of the state Department of Environmental Protection's natural resources bureau.

Nine of the state permits since 2005 went to licensed wildlife rehabilitators who wanted to own and care for raptors; one was for a licensed rehabilitator in Winsted who wanted to care for a bat... Connecticut state law prohibits ownership of certain types of exotic animals without permits, including those in the bear and wolf families and large members of the cat family such as tigers and jaguars. "People who possess these animals generally do not request a permit, and that is one of the problems that underscores what we have to deal with," Parker said.

Nope, not an easy job, because careless people are everywhere, and some of them think owning odd animals is a good idea.