Charla Nash: no more eyes, nose, jaw, and hands.
In early February this year, 55 year old Charla Nash was attacked by her neighbor’s pet chimpanzee. After escaping the home it had been raised in, the 200 pound animal attacked Nash leaving her with no eyes, no nose, no lips, and no hands.
Since the attack, many speculations about whether or not the animal should have been removed from owner Sandy Harold earlier have been continuously growing.
This article talks more about the horrible incident and even provides links to other articles about the issue. (Fair warning though, ther are many pictures of her injuries that are graphic and disturbing. If you prefer not to see them, then i would suggest not going to the article linked above). The article gives a basic outline of what happened to Charla. It also has links to other websites with even more articles and pictures of the incident. Check it out if you are interested (but don’t say i didn’t warn you if you get grossed out!).
Another article i found and read suggested that Herold was very devastated over the death of her chimpanzee which she had considered her child and only “concerned” about her neighbor and friend. Something about how she felt doesn’t sit right with me. Clearly the animal was not its typical self which only makes society question the care and upkeep of the animal provided by Herold. I mean honestly… how did the chimp even escape? Clearly someone is at fault here, but the question is who?
What do yall think? Should Sandy Herold be punished? If so, what for? How do you feel about this situation and what happened?
This is an amazing story, and I’ve got to say that the owner is definitely at fault here. Let’s look at it this way, would the attack have been viewed differently if a German Shepherd had done this to a neighbor? No. The Shepherd would have been put down because it was dangerous, and that is what should happen to the Chimp. As for Herold, while she could potentially be charged with criminal negligence, she could also be charged with assault. The latter probably wouldn’t stick, but I would press serious civil charges if the attack had happened to me or anyone close to me. You have a chimp, lady, chimps are dangerous, make sure they are kept in your home under your direct supervision. If you can’t do that you shouldn’t own a chimp.