Pet chimpanzee is shot dead by cops after attacking 68-year-old owner’s daughter and biting her legs, arms and torso on Oregon ranch
A chimpanzee which had been kept as a pet on a family ranch for 17 years was shot dead by an Oregon deputy over the weekend after it attacked its owner’s 50-year-old daughter.
Buck the chimp was shot at the ranch in Pendleton, Eastern Oregon, after biting the woman in the legs, arms and torso on Sunday.
Owner Tamara Brogoitti, 68, made a desperate call to 911 after her daughter – who has not been named by officials – was attacked and the pair were forced to take shelter in a basement bedroom.
‘It has attacked my 50-year-old daughter,’ Brogoitti said in the audio of the call to the cops obtained by KHQ-TV.
‘She needs an ambulance. The ambulance can not get to her. I’ve locked myself in the basement with her. I can’t get out to get my own gun. She’s bleeding profusely. I’ve never seen anything like this.’
When the 911 operator asked if she was able to put pressure on her daughter’s wounds she replied: ‘I’m trying to guard her from a 200-pound ape, so I can’t really put pressure on it, ma’am’.
Umatilla County Sheriff´s Office deputies arrived and shot the animal dead so they could safely get to the victim.
Broigotti and her daughter were both taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Pendleton for treatment.
As the deputies arrived on to the scene, Buck was roaming near a fence that surrounded the Brogoitti house, Sheriff´s Lt. Sterrin Ward said.
To get Brogoitti and her daughter medical attention, the sheriff’s office concluded that Buck would have to be ‘put down’.
Brogoitti gave the deputies permission to shoot Buck, and he was shot once to the head and died on the spot.
Buck had lived with Brogoitti for 17 years on her ranch before attack.
From 2010 to early 2019, Buck was a part of the Buck Brogoitti Animal Rescue. The nonprofit primarily housed and cared for horses the sheriff´s office seized in abuse and neglect cases.
In 2010, the state of Oregon made it illegal to keep great apes including chimpanzees as pets.
But the law allowed exotic animals owned prior to 2010 to be kept until the end of their natural life – allowing Brogoitti to be excused from the ban.
Several animal rights groups including PETA say Broigoitti created a deadly situation in keeping Buck, saying he was a dangerous ape because he had lived on the property so long.
‘PETA warned state authorities that Tamara Brogoitti had created a ticking time bomb by engaging in direct contact with a dangerous ape, and now, he is dead and a woman has been mauled because of Brogoitti’s refusal to follow experts’ advice and transfer Buck to an accredited sanctuary,’ PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet told KXLY.com.
‘Since long before the chimpanzee Travis ripped a woman’s face off in 2009, it has been clear that attacks are inevitable so long as people continue to treat chimpanzees like Chihuahuas.’
