OREGON
6A — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2021
Owner of att acking chimp credits
deputy with saving her daughter’s life
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON —
Tamara Brogoitti’s voice
on the 911 call is clear and
direct.
“My pet chimpanzee
has attacked my daughter,”
Brogoitti told a dispatcher.
“She’s bleeding profusely.
And the animal has to be
shot.”
The attack occurred
Sunday, June 20, at Bro-
goitti’s home and ranch on
Rieth Road, across from
the entrance to the Umatilla
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
Brogoitti, 68, spoke about
the attack and death of
Buck publicly for the fi rst
time June 22.
“There are no … he was
my son,” she said. “What
I do want to do, I want to
thank the Umatilla County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce.”
In particular, she
thanked the deputy who
pulled the trigger.
“He sent Buck to heaven
and saved my daughter,”
she said. “It was a horrible
thing that happened. For the
rest of my life I will thank
that man for what he did.”
She said the deputy acted
with professionalism in a
crisis.
“My daughter was losing
blood, and emergency per-
sonnel needed to get to her,”
she said. “There were no
options.”
The body cam video the
sheriff ’s offi ce released June
22 of the shooting shows
Buck from a distance in an
enclosed patio. Brogoitti
is out of view, hiding in a
basement with her daughter,
but her voice is evident and
she directs the deputy to
shoot the ape.
The deputy fi red once,
hitting Buck in the head,
killing the 200-pound
chimpanzee.
“There was no pain,”
Brogoitti, said. “My beau-
tiful son folded forward and
was with God. There wasn’t
a twitch. ... He just went to
be with God. It was hor-
rible, but it had to happen.”
Brogoitti said she was
at her daughter’s side at St.
Anthony Hospital, Pend-
leton. She did not get into
what provoked the attack,
but said her daughter, 50,
suff ered bites on her thighs
and buttocks. The plan was
for her daughter to leave the
hospital June 23 and live for
a while at Brogoitti’s home,
where she will undergo
physical therapy.
Brogoitti also compli-
mented the medics who
rushed her daughter to the
hospital, and thanked the
hospital staff for its “unbe-
lievably wonderful” treat-
ment of her daughter.
Sheriff ’s offi ce fl ags
residence
Brogoitti also did not get
into details about how she
and her late husband, John
Brogoitti, acquired Buck as
a baby 17 years ago, only to
specify it was not to exploit
the animal for fi nancial
gain. Buck, she said, never
appeared on a TV show, for
example.
Umatilla County Sher-
iff ’s Lt. Sterrin Ward
said the sheriff ’s offi ce is
treating this as it would any
other animal attack, refer-
ring its report to the coun-
ty’s public health depart-
ment and the district
attorney’s offi ce.
The sheriff ’s offi ce on
June 21 released two clips
of the 911 call Brogoitti
made after the attack took
place and she was able
to get into the basement
with her daughter. Ward
explained most of the 911
recording includes pauses
Abigail Dollins/The Associated Press
Lawmakers meet in the Oregon House of Representatives during the legislative session on June 23,
2021, at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem.
Oregon Legislature
calls it a session
Buck Brogoitti Animal Rescue/Contributed Photo
This photo from 2015 shows Buck, the adult male chimpanzee Ta-
mara Brogoitti cared for at her ranch near Pendleton. A Umatilla
County sheriff ’s deputy on Sunday, June 20, 2021, shot and killed
the primate after it attacked Brogoitti’s adult daughter. People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals in April warned the state Brogoitti
allowed the ape to roam her property and therefore violated her per-
mit to keep Buck.
with little information while
emergency help arrived.
The sheriff ’s offi ce released
the two clips, she said,
because those segments
were the most relevant to
helping the public under-
stand what happened.
Ward also said the sher-
iff ’s offi ce had “fl agged” the
Brogoitti residence because
of Buck. She said the sher-
iff ’s offi ce uses such indi-
cators so its staff can take
proper precautions and be
safe at certain locations.
PETA warns state of
permit violation
Buck also pinged the
radar of the nationwide
nonprofi t People for the
Ethical Treatment of Ani-
mals. Brittany Peet, the
PETA Foundation’s deputy
general counsel for Captive
Animal Law Enforcement,
issued this statement on
June 21 about the attack:
“PETA warned state
authorities that Tamara Bro-
goitti had created a ticking
time bomb by engaging in
direct contact with a dan-
gerous ape, and now, he is
dead and a woman has been
mauled because of Bro-
goitti’s refusal to follow
experts’ advice and transfer
Buck to an accredited sanc-
tuary. 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.”
Oregon banned posses-
sion of exotic animals in
2010, with two exceptions:
• If the U.S. Department
of Agriculture licensed the
owner of the animal.
• If the owner has a valid
Oregon exotic animal permit
obtained prior to 2010.
Brogoitti fell into the
second category. But
according to PETA, Bro-
goitti was violating state
laws and rules and the
terms of her permit for
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keeping Buck.
PETA on April 16 sent a
letter and complaint about
Brogoitti to Isaak Stapleton,
director of Food Safety and
Animal Health, the agency
under the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture that
issues permits for exotic
animals.
PETA’s complaint stated
the permit the agriculture
department issued to Bro-
goitti lists Dr. Douglas Per-
nikoff , of Glencoe, Mis-
souri, as the veterinarian
caring for Buck. Aside
from being more than 1,800
miles away from where
Buck lived, Pernikoff is not
licensed to practice veter-
inary medicine in Oregon,
according to PETA.
The state agriculture
department also requires
cages or rooms of certain
dimensions and materials to
confi ne exotic animals. But
per the complaint, social
media posts show Buck
would roam Brogoitti’s
home and other parts of the
property. PETA also alleged
Brogoitti misrepresented
Buck’s age to the agricul-
ture department, a violation
of the permit.
Debbie Metzler, asso-
ciate director of PETA’s
Captive Animal Law
Enforcement, said the orga-
nization has rescued 13
chimps from private cap-
tivity since 2013. Chimps
are social animals and can
be violent animals, she said.
Buck, for his entire life,
lacked the companionship
of other chimpanzees, she
said, and Brogoitti was not
following the law.
By SARA CLINE
The Associated Press
SALEM — The
Oregon Legislature
adjourned Saturday, June
26, bringing to a close the
2021 session in which sig-
nifi cant renewable energy,
police reform, wildfi re
recovery and racial equity
bills were passed.
The session was also
marked by COVID-19
scares, tension between
majority Democrats and
Republicans and the
expulsion of a lawmaker
who let rowdy protesters
into the Capitol.
“This session has
been unlike any other
in Oregon history,” said
House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland.
The Legislature
passed House Bill 2021
on June 26, which would
require the state to tran-
sition 100% of its elec-
tricity generation to clean,
renewable sources by
2040. Advocates say that
would be the fastest such
transition in the country,
but opponents worry the
push will lead to higher
energy prices.
This session was
unlike those in the past as
the Capitol in Salem was
closed to the public for
the entire session, which
began in January, because
of COVID-19 restrictions.
Even with precautions
in place, fl oor sessions
were canceled multiple
times because of positive
coronavirus tests among
people who were allowed
to work in the Capitol.
The session was also
notable as it saw the state
House expel a Repub-
lican member who let
violent, far-right pro-
testers into the Capitol on
Dec. 21, 2020. On June
11 Rep. Mike Nearman
was removed by a 59-1
vote, marking the fi rst
time a member has been
expelled by the House in
its 160-year history. The
only vote against the res-
olution for expulsion was
Nearman’s own.
Nearman, who police
say let protesters inside
the building, has argued
the Capitol should be
open.
But even Republicans,
who are often opposed to
Democratic initiatives on
climate change and some
other bills, said the crowd
outside the Capitol that
day was not made up of
constituents who wanted
to peacefully engage in
the democratic process.
Some were carrying guns.
In the House and
Senate, where Democrats
hold strong majorities, the
GOP used slowing tactics
— refusing to suspend
the full reading of pro-
posed bills aloud before
a fi nal vote, a maneuver
that added hours to the
passage of even simple
bipartisan legislation —
to thwart legislation they
didn’t like.
In response, hours
worth of bills were read
by computer rather than
clerks.
For the past two years,
Republican state senators
staged walkouts to deny
the chamber a quorum.
During the debate over
measures that ban guns
from the Capitol and
mandate the safe storage
of guns, fi ve Repub-
lican senators did not
attend. However, six did.
The GOP senators that
attended have since faced
death threats and recall
petitions from their own
party.
Guns were not the
only topic that drew pas-
sionate statements from
lawmakers this session —
especially in a year with
a deadly pandemic and
racial awakening.
A package of police
reform bills was passed
that includes require-
ments that police offi cers
assigned to crowd control
during protests must be
clearly identifi ed by name
or badge number; another
provision requires all new
police offi cer background
checks must include a
scan for membership
in hate groups; and one
that strengthens police
misconduct reporting
requirements.
Lawmakers worked
to keep people housed
during the pandemic.
Among the notable
measures passed during
the 2021 Legislature was
a pause of some evic-
tions during the pan-
demic for 60 days for ten-
ants who have applied for
rent assistance. Legisla-
tors also reinstated and
extended the Oregon fore-
closure moratorium.
In addition, lawmakers
passed bills making it
easier to site shelters in
diff erent neighborhoods
and a bill that makes it
more challenging for
cities and counties to ban
homeless people from
sitting, sleeping and
camping on public prop-
erty. Several Oregon
cities like Portland, Salem
and Eugene have seen
signifi cant issues with
homelessness and outdoor
encampments.
Lawmakers allocated
$150 million to help fi nd
homes for people dis-
placed in the September
2020 wildfi res and $75
million to support them in
the short-term.
EASTERN OREGON
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