Travis the Chimp – Did his owner cross the line?
This is a tragic story of an obviously lonely widow became too close to her pet and most certainly crossed the line viewing Travis as a companion and not as the wild animal he was – in most cases there would have been nothing wrong with this. Many pet owners love their pets and treat them as part of the family; most common pets have been domesticated over hundreds of years – the problem in this case is in what we class as a pet.
Travis was a wild animal, yes he was domesticated and could be safely handles most of the time but at the end of the day he was a wild animal. He should never have been treated the way he was, you would never sleep with a lion or tiger would you, so why sleep with a chimp. Humans have evolved over thousands of years to eat cooked food and to be able to consume wine; these are not found in chimps diets and should not have been given to him – that’s not love its abuse.
I have two parrots a Blue and Gold McCaw and an Eclectus, they are part of the family and surprisingly can be petted much the same way you can with a cat – but at the end of the day they are not cats or dogs, and they need to be treated with respect – and like many pets they need to know the pecking order, I am the boss. Treated with respect they are great pets, but you need to know where the line is.
Chimps, parrots, snakes and other exotic’s are not cats and dogs; they can’t be treated like cats and dogs. They are becoming more popular and I for one am all for licensing them, I am not for stopping people having them as pets but people should be able to show they have a good knowledge of how to look after and be able to handle them safely before being allowed to own them. I would also extend this to certain breeds of dogs as it appears any idiot can get the latest hard man fashion accessory, a Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Bull Terrier or Doberman – these are not suitable family pets just look at the number of children and babies killed and mauled by these dogs.
Really? You think you know where to draw the line? You think you would have even written this event not amde national news? There was nothing wrong with the relationship between this chimpanzee and its owner. You have absolutely no basis for labeling any animal too wild or tame. You think dogs and cats domesticated themselves?