Well, they got a pet monkey
He likes to get drunky
And sing boogie woogie and it sounds real funky
Come on, your time boy, sing one monkey — Ray Stevens, “Gitarzan,” 1969
Ray Stevens didn’t mean anything bad with his classic comic suggestion of a drunk chimp.
But it turns out that a drunk chimp isn’t really all that funny.
In fact an adult chimp on various drugs is absolutely terrifying — especially when he’s over 200 pounds and homicidal.
And it would seem that most adults should know that, but Charla Nash is now suing another official for the attack on her that came at the home of a “friend” who was living with the adult male chimp — and who was, well, “casual” with him.
According to the Associated Press report: “A Connecticut woman who was mauled and severely injured by an out-of-control chimpanzee and is now suing the state, says Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, as then-mayor of Stamford, knew the animal was dangerous.
“In an interview with The Hartford Courant, Nash said the chimpanzee got loose and roamed Stamford in 2003.
“She says Malloy knew the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, and allowed her to take him home and warned that he should be locked up. She was attacked by the animal in February 2009.”
The thing is, Nash chose to go over to her “friend’s” house, and knew about the big monkey loose there, whether he was running rampant over the town or not.
It’s probably human to look for someone to blame over such a tragedy as her maiming at the hand of her “friend’s pet,” and maybe it’s normal to look for lots of people to blame, and lots of money from each of those people.
But that doesn’t make it right.
The AP notes: “Nash has a $50 million lawsuit against the estate of Herold, who died in May 2010. She also has a request before the state’s claims commissioner for permission to pursue a $150 million lawsuit against the state for allegedly failing to protect the public, including herself, from a dangerous animal.”
Those Americans who have suggested that it should be more difficult to keep dangerous animals as pets probably have a good argument.
Anyone who’s keeping a 200-pound male chimp, feeding him drugs and alcohol and allowing him physical access to visitors is probably not the most responsible person.
But the person — Nash — who decides to spend time with the drunk chimp, is acting less than responsible too, whether she wants to admit it or not.
She has to bear some accountability, too.
— Chuck Smith