A Missouri woman may have to surrender ownership of seven chimpanzees raised in a facility near Festus.
Tonia Haddix reportedly has not complied with a contempt order issued against her on April 7 stemming from a lawsuit the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization filed to remove at least some of the chimps from the Missouri Primate Foundation, a sanctuary at 12338 Hwy. CC south of Festus.
Haddix had negotiated a consent decree with PETA, but reportedly did not follow through on some of its terms, so a contempt order was issued on April 8, calling for Haddix to hire an attorney to help her comply with the consent decree.
She was given until April 26 to hire an attorney and did not, so U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry issued a notice of noncompliance that day, which says Haddix will have to transfer the chimps named Crystal, Mikayla, Tonka, Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry to the Center for Great Apes sanctuary in in Wauchula, Fla., when that facility is complete.
The notice also said Haddix is being fined $50 for every day she is not in compliance.
On May 6, Haddix said she is still trying to find a lawyer to represent her and plans to fight for ownership of the chimps, who were raised at the Missouri Primate Foundation, which was formerly known as Chimparty and provided chimps for parties, television ads and movies, and previously was owned by Connie Casey.
“I have tried almost every attorney in St. Louis, but nobody wants to touch the case,” said Haddix, who also said a GoFundMe account has been set up to cover her fine. “If I have to keep fighting for the rest of the chimps’ natural life, so they can die peacefully, I will.”
Jared Goodman, a PETA lawyer, said Haddix will not be allowed to keep the chimps.
“She no longer has the ability to find a lawyer as the court has made it clear in its contempt order that she had until April 26 to do so,” Goodman said.
Haddix and PETA had reached a settlement in October 2020, and according to that consent decree Haddix was to transfer ownership of Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry to the Center for Great Apes in Florida, which is still under construction.
PETA said it would allow Haddix to keep Crystal, Mikayla and Tonka if she built habitats with specific space requirements and construction standards. She also had to hire a full-time chimpanzee caregiver with at least two years of experience caring for captive chimps, hire a part-time maintenance worker, recruit experienced volunteers to provide care for the chimps and establish a tax-exempt charitable organization to fund the chimps’ care, court papers said.
Haddix said Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry are still being housed at the Missouri Primate Foundation in Festus because the Center for Great Apes sanctuary has not been completed.
Goodman said the Florida facility is expected to be completed this summer.
Haddix transferred Crystal, Mikayla and Tonka to a facility in Eldon, southwest of Jefferson City. She said she currently has a “night house” for the chimps and is constructing an outdoor holding facility there.
Haddix also said she has a full-time caregiver and a part-time maintenance person in Eldon. She had originally planned to build the facility in Stoddard County, southwest of Cape Girardeau, but changed the location.
Haddix said she is being treated like an indentured servant because the court has ordered her to care for the four chimps that are to be transferred to Florida.
Goodman said Haddix is being told to take of the chimps because that is what is called for in the consent decree she and PETA negotiated. As part of that settlement, Haddix was to provide updates on the progress of the new facility she was building and submit paperwork to be reimbursed for the care of the four chimps that are to be transferred to Florida.
“In the spirit of negotiation, we agreed to delay and transfer until it could be built,” Goodman said.
He also said Haddix had been sending PETA receipts for the expenses she incurred to care for the four chimps to be sent to Florida.
However, Goodman said PETA experts determined the chimps were living “in conditions that likely will cause them harm.”
He also said Haddix stopped sending updates to PETA about the chimps’ care.
Haddix said she stopped providing those updates because PETA kept finding something wrong with what she was doing to care for the chimps.
“When I was giving PETA updates, I would send them pictures. They would say it was not sufficient,” Haddix said. “Every time there was something wrong with what I was sending them. There is no reasoning with them, so I just gave up.”
Haddix also said PETA is not looking out for the best interest of the chimps, since the organization agreed to let the chimps stay at a place they said is not safe for them.
“Are they really out for the best interest of those chimps, or is it to further PETA’s agenda?” Haddix said. “Would they allow a kid to stay in a noted abusive situation for a year until they had a place to put that kid? Is it about the chimps or PETA’s agenda?”
Goodman said PETA only wants what is best for the chimps.
“Our concern is to ensure these chimps are adequately cared for, and the consent decree was negotiated to give Miss Haddix the opportunity to retain three of them with some assurances they would be held in adequate conditions, would have adequate staff and volunteers caring for them and that there would be adequate funding sources to finance their care,” Goodman said. “The fact that she has not met those obligations means we continue to want to ensure they will receive proper care. The most obvious place that will happen is the sanctuary, where they will receive proper care and thrive.”
Click to read past Leader coverage on the events that led to "Chimp Crazy."