Some people who live along Hwy. CC south of Festus witnessed a strange sight late last month.
Jefferson County Animal Control was called at about 3:10 p.m. June 30 to the 12000 block of Hwy. CC because a chimpanzee was spotted on the road.
A Facebook video, which has since been removed, showed the chimp trying to open a car door, according to the Animal Control Department, which has a copy of the video and screenshots of the incident, the department reported
The chimp escaped from the Missouri Primate Foundation, 12338 Hwy. CC, formerly known as Chimparty, which used to provide chimps for parties, television ads and movies. When Animal Control officers arrived at about 3:30 p.m., the chimp had already been returned to the facility, the report said.
The owner of the property, Connie Casey, reportedly told Animal Control officers that the chimp had been given two doses Ketamine, a tranquilizer, but she needed to get more to subdue the chimp. At about 4 p.m., the officers left because the situation was under control, Animal Control manager Beth Steinnerd said.
The incident brought back memories from 2001, when three chimps got out of the facility and Jason Coats, who was 17 at the time, shot and killed one of them. He was convicted of felony destruction of property and misdemeanor animal abuse and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and had to complete numerous programs.
“It turned my whole life upside down,” Coats said. “It is really hard to get almost anything done as a convicted felon.”
Coats said he was upset when he saw the Facebook post showing another chimp was on the loose in the area.
“In the video, a chimpanzee walks over and tries to open a car (door). It tries to get into a car. A guy taking the video says, ‘He’s trying to rob that dude.’ It was taken so lightly. I took it that way at first, but if circumstances change or something happens and it goes berserk, you can’t stop an animal like that. My emotions were fear at first, then anger. What are these things still doing here? How many incidents does it take to get a place like this shut down?”
When Coats shot the chimp in 2001, he said it was threatening him, his friends and his dog.
“People have a misconception that they are just little people. In the blink of an eye, this thing that is four to seven times stronger than you or I and are close to 200 pounds with 3-inch fangs is coming after you. You are done. You don’t stand a chance.”
When the case was being tried, Casey told a jury the chimp had been tranquilized and was sitting peacefully before it was shot.
Tonia Haddix is now the legal owner of the seven chimps who live on the property. She was given ownership in an attempt to end a lawsuit the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed against Casey, claiming the facility’s conditions were unfit for the animals.
Haddix, who is from Clover, said she also remembers the 2001 incident, and when a chimp escaped June 30, she and others were fearful it would be hurt or killed.
“That was a sad situation,” Haddix said. “(June 30) was a big learning experience for me. It is very frightening, because you think of those poor chimps being out and if anybody overreacted, she could have been dead.”
Haddix said she won’t allow another chimp to escape from the facility.
She said the chimp who escaped June 30 is named Makayla and would not have hurt anyone. She said the chimp is curious and had peaceful interactions with neighbors for the 45 minutes it was outside of the facility.
“Someone was with her (the chimpanzee) at all times,” Haddix said. “A lot of the neighbors have lived there for years and watched the chimps grow up. They were out there helping us. It was great to see how much the neighbors cared about her safety.”
Haddix said she had been cleaning the chimpanzees’ cages on June 30 and thought she had secured the lock on Makayla’s cage, but the lock malfunctioned and the chimp escaped.
“I pulled on it. It clicked,” Haddix said. “I think it was something to do with the locking mechanism. When you keep locking them and unlocking them, eventually it can wear out.”
Haddix said new locks have been put on all the cages, and she said now when people lock one of the cages, they have to pull on the lock hard three times to ensure it is secure.
On July 10, Haddix said she was notified by Animal Control that the department had closed its investigation and will not penalize the facility.
Haddix said the lawsuit PETA filed against Casey, however, is ongoing. In 2018, it appeared to be settled when Casey transferred ownership of the chimps to Haddix, but Haddix has been added to the lawsuit, which seeks to have the chimps transferred to a different habitat.
Haddix said she lives in a trailer she moved onto the Hwy. CC property to care for the chimps. She said the next scheduled court date in the lawsuit PETA files is in January 2021.
“We want to allow the chimps who are there to remain there the rest of their lives,” Haddix said. “Most of them were born there. I want to see them die in the only home they have known. After that, it will be over. We are not breeding or looking to get more chimps. We just want the seven who are here to die in their home.”
Coats, who said he now lives about 10 miles from the facility, is not happy the chimps are still allowed on the property.
“I’m all for individual freedoms, but when your freedoms invade my property, I have problems with that,” Coats said. “They don’t belong there. Those types of animals should not be near a neighbor. It is infuriating to me they are there in a residential area that is becoming more dense. They just need to be moved.”
Click to read past Leader coverage on the events that led to "Chimp Crazy."