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A deputy shot and killed an adult pet chimpanzee named Buck after it attacked a woman in Eastern Oregon, sheriff’s officials said. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office said the chimpanzee, who had lived with Tamara Brogoitti for 17 years in Pendleton, started attacking Brogoitti’s daughter on Sunday morning, CBS affiliate KOIN-TV reports.
Brogoitti, 68, called 911 and said the animal had bitten her 50-year-old daughter in the torso, arms and legs and that her daughter was hiding in a basement bedroom, sheriff’s Lt. Sterrin Ward said.
In 911 audio, a dispatcher can be heard asking a woman if she is applying pressure to the wound, KOIN-TV reports.
“I’m trying to guard her from a 200-pound ape, so I can’t really put pressure on it, ma’am,” the caller says.
When deputies arrived, the ape was roaming a fenced area outside the house, he said. The sheriff’s office said the animal needed to be “put down” so they could get medical aid to the daughter and that they had Brogoitti’s permission to shoot it.
The chimpanzee was shot once in the head, Ward said. Both women were taken to a hospital for treatment.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in a statement it had warned state authorities that Brogoitti had created a “ticking time bomb” by engaging in direct contact with a dangerous ape.
“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 said.
It’s not clear what caused the chimpanzee to attack.
From 2010 to early 2019, Brogoitti operated the Buck Brogoitti Animal Rescue at her ranch, the East Oregonian reported. The nonprofit primarily housed and cared for horses the sheriff’s office seized in abuse and neglect cases.
It wasn’t immediately known how the chimp came to live with her.
KOIN-TV reports possession of exotic animals is prohibited in Oregon unless the owner is licensed through the United States Department of Agriculture or the owner has a valid Oregon exotic animal permit obtained prior to 2010. No new permits may be issued.
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