Deputy Forced To Shoot Chimpanzee Dead After It Mutilated, Trapped Owner's Daughter

A Umatilla County sheriff’s deputy was forced to shoot and kill an adult pet chimpanzee on Sunday, June 20, after it brutally attacked a 50-year-old woman and her mother in Pendleton, Oregon, according to authorities.

The chimpanzee’s owner, Tamara Brogoitti, alerted authorities on Sunday morning that her ape had escaped from its cage and had brutally mauled and bitten her daughter in her torso, arms, and legs, Fox News reported. Police shortly arrived on the scene to help diffuse the disturbance.

Brogoitti, 68, told responding deputies that her daughter, 50, was trapped by the primate inside a bedroom in the basement and was in immediate need of medical assistance. Police found the chimpanzee casually roaming around a fenced area outside the Pendleton residence when they arrived.

With Brogoitti's permission, the ape was fatally shot in the head and reportedly killed in order to rescue and provide timely medical aid to the wounded daughter, Lieutenant Sterrin Ward said.

Deputies rescued the women and both of them were immediately rushed to a local hospital in Pendleton, about 200 miles east of Portland, for treatment, according to the local sheriff's office.

Brogoitti had been taking care of the chimpanzee "Buck," for the past 17 years, Ward added.

Even though Oregon had passed a law in 2010 that prohibits citizens from owning chimpanzees, anyone who owned an ape prior to 2010 was allowed to keep the animal for the rest of its life, the Oregonian reported.

"Attacks from any privately-owned primate in captivity should be expected because these animals are not living healthy lives where they can express their natural urges and engage in natural behaviors," said Erika Fleury, Program Director at the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance.

The North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance created in 2010 transfers primates from the custody of private owners into animal sanctuaries. This helps the animals receive professional care and lets them socialize with their own kind, other primates. Fleury said that this movement is targeted to protect both the animals and their owners.

“Having a non-human primate like a chimp or even a very small monkey living in a human home is harmful for the animal and can be very harmful for the humans as well,” Fleury said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a statement saying 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," the statement added.

Brogoitti operated the Buck Brogoitti Animal Rescue at her ranch from 2010 to early 2019 and primarily housed and cared for horses that the sheriff’s office seized in abuse and neglect cases by 2020, New York Post reported.

The impetus that triggered the chimpanzee to attack Brogoitti and her daughter remains unclear.