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#151
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The family of a Connecticut woman mauled and blinded by a chimpanzee sought Wednesday to sue the state for $150 million, saying officials failed to prevent the attack.
Attorneys for Charla Nash's family filed a notice Wednesday with the state's Office of Claims Commissioner asking for permission to sue the state. The 200-pound (90-kilogram) chimpanzee named Travis went berserk in February when his owner, Sandra Herold, asked Nash to help lure him back into her house in Stamford. The animal chewed off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids; she remains in stable condition at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. A Department of Environmental Protection biologist warned state officials before the attack that Travis could seriously hurt someone if he felt threatened, noting that he was large and strong. "We believe the evidence will show that the state, acting through the Department of Environmental Protection, failed to adequately address a serious public safety issue that resulted in tragic consequences for our client," said Matt Newman, attorney for Nash's family. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday that his office is reviewing the claim. He said that he is sympathetic over the "horrific tragedy" but that the planned lawsuit "seems unprecedented in size." Nash's family earlier filed a $50 million lawsuit against Herold, saying she was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities." Herold's attorney has called the attack work-related and said her family's case should be treated like a workers' compensation claim. The strategy, if successful, would limit potential damages in the case and insulate the chimp owner from personal liability. The animal, which was shot and killed by police, had also escaped in 2003 from his owner's car and led police on a chase for hours in downtown Stamford. No one was injured. Records obtained by The Associated Press through a state open-records request show the state began receiving warnings immediately after that event. Environmental protection officials have said that over the 13 years Travis was with Herold, the agency received only a few inquiries about Travis among thousands in general about possession of wild animals. They said the memo from the biologist underscored the need for a clear, new law that would forbid ownership of potentially dangerous animals as pets and impose stiff penalties for those possessing them, and they blamed the failure to act on a communications problem and a lack of expertise in exotic animals at the agency. Police fatally shot the 14-year-old chimp when he tried to attack an officer responding to the assault on Nash on Feb. 16. Test results showed that Travis had the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system, but investigators don't know whether the drug played a role.
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-John Connor just knows. |
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#152
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Just read that Charla, the victim, is going to be on Oprah on Wednesday to talk about her experience, recovery and what is ahead for her. Should be interesting.
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"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead - and the bridge is love" ~ Thorndon Wilder ~ |
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#153
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Don't think I want to see that
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#154
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#155
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#156
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She has more courage than I would. Don't know if I would want to live like that. Who exactly is responsible for this? The owner or the state for allowing her to keep it or the people that knew there was a problem years ago with this chimp? Someone really dropped the ball on this one.
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Always borrow money from a pessimist; he doesn’t expect to be paid back. |
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#157
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Her family is claiming the state knew the chimp was dangerous and did nothing. The state claims they knew she had the chimp and they did pass a law a few years ago banning exotic pets, but Travis was "grandfathered" in because she had him previous to the passed law. Now people are saying "Oh she knew the chimp was dangerous", but of course everyone comes out of the woodwork after the fact. Thing is Nash states now that she was always afraid of Travis, but that didn't seem to stop her from feeding him while his owner was away or interacting with him on a regular basis.
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#158
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#159
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About as bad as we had thought it would be. My one question is? Why does it look like she has a trunk?
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#160
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That was my first thought. I'm going to try and watch Oprah, but I don't know if I can get through it all.
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#161
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Oprah looks like she are a 200 pound chimp.
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#162
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You are sooo bad! (But I have to agree. Not looking her best these days.)
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#163
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That poor woman.
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Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart. |
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#164
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Aweful! Anyone else wanna tell me it's all in how they're raised?
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#165
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They can kill or really hurt you in a flash if they want to and have done it plenty of times as certain horse owners have found out. You should never consider any big strong animal a cuddly baby. They call it anthromorphism (mistakenly giveing human attributes to other creatures). In the case of a dog, a cat or a bird it is cute, a horse , a tiger or a chimp it can get you killed.... and I love horses and have never been hurt other than a playful nip or accidnetly stepping on my foot. it ought to be illegal to keep them as pets in a home setting, chimps that is, not horses. Regards, Mary |
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#166
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Some new laws must be made and inforced so this never happens again.
That poor woman. Blind and no hands. The condition of her face, I cant imagine being like that. |
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#167
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I hate to say it but it's a good thing she's blind. This alone may make her recovery a bit easier.
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#168
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I don't think they should sue the state for any money either. Sue the owner?... Yes. She deliberately went around the animal. If she thought the animal was dangerous then she was stupid to go around it like that.
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Are you coming to bed? -I can't. This is important. What? -Someone is WRONG on the Internet. |
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#169
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I think you're right.
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-John Connor just knows. |
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#170
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BHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
OMg you just made me spit what I was drinking out of my NOSE!
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Dont listen to the static. |
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#171
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I do think that it could have been hard to feel that he was really.. something to be afraid of since the lady had him wearing clothes and drinking out of glasses and surfing the web, Im sure that could make him look less like something she should be fearful of. Im sure this isnt going to be popular opinion but it REALLY annoys me when people get animals that arent MEANT to live with people and treat them as if it were a house cat. Travis did what came NATURAL to him, he wasnt meant to be living in someones home and taking BATHS with his owner and drinking wine, give me a break. Also, Chimps need to be around OTHER chimps, they are very social animals and its just cruel to lock something up in your house that isnt meant to be there.
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Dont listen to the static. |
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#172
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My God. Those pictures. That poor woman!
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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein |
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#173
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You should watch the video, its heartbreaking.
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Dont listen to the static. |
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#174
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I don't think I could watch it without crying. I think I'll skip it.
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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein |
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#175
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Wild animals should not be domesticated! As long as people do this, tragedies will continue to happen. |
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#176
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I dont agree. Can you imagine never seeing ANYTHING again? The poor lady has a very long road ahead of her.
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#177
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I saw the Oprah show and it was hard to watch. I think O did a good job. At one point the poor lady was crying and O dried her tears with a tissue. The "trunk" was a graph taken from her leg to make her a nose, although she can't breathe out of it. She will be getting a face transplant. It's too bad technology is not advanced enough to give her a new set of eyes with which to see.
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#178
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Its so strange when people get outraged at stuff like this.. You have a chimp in your house, what did you THINK would happen? Wasnt there a man that had a Tiger in his apartment in New York at one point? People are just silly when they acted shocked when an animal acts like an animal.
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Dont listen to the static. |
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#179
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I thought this woman was incredibly brave. I'm sure that her doctors, counselors, etc, warned her about the publicity. I have to admit, was shocked, but not horrified. People are who they are, not what they look like. A beautiful apple can be rotten inside and a distorted shell can be beautiful inside.
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Everyone must die but not everyone has lived |
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#180
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The money Oprah paid her to appear will certainly help with the med bills.
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#181
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Yesterday morning, a couple of the "shock jocks" I listen to were shocked, not by Charla's appearance but by some of the inane things Oprah said. They played a few clips (since I did not watch the show) and I was appalled.
You know, if this was a MAN who had gone through this, who would have harped on about looking in the mirror or vanity or just how generally awful the damage was, especially after the poor victim (who, I suspect, is probably kept well-drugged for pain and psychological effects) stated that she did NOT want to know or imagine the extent of it? Remember that poor Marine boy with blown-off face in the sad wedding picture? I could not imagine who would have the nerve to bring up what he thought about looking in a mirror (something Ms. Nash no longer can do anyway) unless HE made a remark about it. Instead, everyone said, how tragic, what a sacrifice, what a brave young man, etc. Or this detective who appeared on "48 Hours" whose face and hands had melted in a fiery car crash. He was competent, did his job, and they even honored him with a scholarship in his name. Nobody remarked on running from him in horror, and he talked about the accident (because it had to be addressed), but nobody was in his face going on about whatever the EMTs said when they took him to the hospital. ("OMG, his face looks like a melted marshmallow!" I guess that would be the equivalent.) Like it or not, people judge women on their looks, even other women, no matter how great they may be inside, and from what I heard on the radio, even the illustrious Oprah can be rather tactless. I just hope Ms. Nash got plenty of money to pay for some of her care out of this. |
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#182
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Newsflash, Oprah. BULLETS hurt.
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Dont listen to the static. |
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#183
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#184
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I think under the circumstances, Charla is a very brave woman. The tabloids were fighting each other to be the first with that exclusive photo of her. She didn't want anyone getting paid big bucks to publish a photo of her, so she beat them to it. Went on Oprah and did it on her own terms. I think that is one gutsy lady.
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"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead - and the bridge is love" ~ Thorndon Wilder ~ |
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#185
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That one of the reasons I dont watch Oprah!! |
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#186
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I don't know what I expected, but I was not ready to see that.
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#187
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I had already seen pics of the women whose face was eaten by her dog, so it was shocking, but not as much had I not already seen something like that.
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#188
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I watched the Oprah show. Man, that was terrible.
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RIP Michael - Forever in my heart. Miss you more... 1958-2009 |
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#189
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I feel really bad for this woman, it really sucks that she has to live with that.
That woman who owned the chimp is a real fucking moron, who gives a chimp Xanax and wine? |
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#190
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I'm sorry, but I'd rather be dead than have those disabilities and look like that. That's strength I just don't have.
How could I post with no hands?!
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#191
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Strange lady at times.
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#192
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Chimp attack victim: I still ‘feel like me’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33913971...-today_people/
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#193
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I'm glad they are suing the state and that fucking moron woman. Normally I'm not in favor of suing, but in this case, it is necessary since Charla will need special care and services for the rest of her life. She deserves every cent she gets. It's BS that the state "grandfathered" that chimp in--they should've known better.
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