40+ Terrifying Stories of Pets Who Turned on Their Owners

No matter how much training and domestication pets have, they are still animals, and this can lead to some terrifying situations if they decide to turn on their owners. There's a higher risk of exotic animals doing this, but that doesn't mean domesticated animals — like dogs and cats — don't turn on their owners, as well. Here are a few examples of terrifying stories of pets who turned on their owners.

We are all used to seeing primates in captivity, particularly in zoos, but many people have them as pets. Take Travis, for instance — a chimpanzee that actually appeared several times on television with his owner. However, in 2009, tragedy struck and Travis went crazy, attacking a friend of his owner, as well as some police cars. He eventually ended up being shot and killed. The woman who was attacked had to go in for a wide range of reconstructive surgeries because of the attack.

People across the globe often think it's cute to dress up their pets. And while it can be cute if your furry friend likes that sort of thing, there are the occasional few that just aren't OK with this human behavior. Unfortunately for one Florida woman, her pitbull's disdain for being dressed up turned fatal. Scarface attacked her in her home, and when someone came to her aid, the dog turned on them also. Eventually, the dog wound up being put to sleep.

When someone says, "I want you to meet my pet," the first thing that comes to mind is probably a cat or dog, maybe a hamster, or perhaps even a lizard. Very few people would automatically assume that you have a 300+ pound black bear waiting for you at home. In the case of the Walz family, that's exactly what they had — a black bear that they had raised since he was a cub. Unfortunately, though, he attacked his owner while she was cleaning his cage.

When most people find insects or snakes in their house, they try as hard as they can to get rid of them. However, a gentleman living in Germany decided that he could turn these creatures into pets. Unfortunately, one of those pets just happened to be a Black Widow, and this spider eventually did what it should always be expected to do — it bit its owner. He passed away and was found several weeks later covered by his collection of critters.