The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is continuing its court battle against a former Festus-area chimpanzee caretaker.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, PETA filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri claiming Tonia Haddix violated court orders and committed perjury based on evidence from the HBO documentary “Chimp Crazy.”
The motion is the sixth filed by PETA in its case against Haddix that claimed seven chimpanzees were improperly cared for in the now-defunct Missouri Primate Foundation, 12338 Hwy. CC, south of Festus.
Haddix was the last owner of seven chimps – Tonka, Crystal, Mikayla, Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry – who lived at the facility formerly known as Chimparty, which provided chimps for parties, television ads and movies. The chimps previously belonged to Connie Casey, who transferred ownership of the animals to Haddix in an attempt to end a lawsuit PETA filed against her in 2016.
In the filing, PETA says in the HBO series, “Haddix, as well as other accomplices, engaged in a knowing conspiracy to suborn and commit perjury, and to violate several of this Court’s orders. Haddix and her accomplices did so on full display to documentary filmmakers in an apparent effort to monetize their misconduct.”
When the Leader reached Haddix by phone this morning, Oct. 31, she only said, “I’m having reporters call me now,” before hanging up. As of this afternoon, she did not respond to a text message sent to her today.
Justin Gelfand, a lawyer representing Haddix, said in an email today, Oct. 31, “We are evaluating this latest motion by PETA and intend to respond accordingly.”
PETA issued a written statement on Oct. 30.
“Tonia Haddix brazenly defied court orders on camera and made a mockery of the justice system in front of an international audience in order to deprive a chimpanzee of a real life,” said Brittany Peet, PETA Foundation general counsel. “PETA is asking the court to hold Haddix and her accomplices in this scheme accountable for flagrantly flouting the law.”
PETA alleges that “Chimp Crazy” implicates Casey, Haddix’s husband, Jerry Aswegan and Cy Viestra, formerly the operator of a roadside zoo in Ohio, as Haddix’s accomplices. Viestra was convicted of stealing money from the township where he worked to help fund his facility, according to the court filing.
After years of legal battles, the case seemed to be concluded July 2021 when U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry ordered Haddix to give up ownership of the seven chimps and allow PETA to transfer them to the Center of Great Apes in Wauchula, Fla. The order came after the judge ruled Haddix had not followed a consent decree she had reached with PETA, which would have allowed her to retain ownership and care for Crystal, Mikayla and Tonka.
Crystal, Mikayla, Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry were transferred from the Festus-area facility to the Florida sanctuary on July 28, 2021. Tonka also was supposed to be transferred that day, but Haddix said Tonka died May 24, 2021, after suffering a stroke or heart attack. Haddix was ordered by the court to show proof of Tonka’s death, but the proof she provided was not acceptable, PETA said in a court filing.
In January 2022, Perry ruled Haddix was unable to prove that Tonka is dead, but the judge did not hold Haddix in contempt. However, the judge allowed PETA to file a new lawsuit to force Tonka’s transfer to the Florida facility if Tonka was found alive.
Tonka, who is best known for his role in the 1997 film “Buddy” with Alan Cumming, was discovered to be alive and living with Haddix in June 2022. The chimp was then transported to the Florida sanctuary.
In its latest filing, PETA alleges that “Chimp Crazy” provides new evidence of instances of Haddix lying and defying court orders. The motion includes time stamps from each episode pointing to instances that the organization claims show Haddix violating court orders, including those that prohibit her from relocating any chimpanzees on her own, sharing details about the time and date of the animals’ court-ordered transfer or recording any video of these transfers.
According to PETA’s motion, the presence of recording equipment during her court hearings was not allowed.
Haddix, who dubbed herself “the Dolly Parton of chimps,” said in the show that she sedated Tonka and hid him at a Holiday Inn instead of turning him over in July 2021 as ordered by the court, according to the motion.
“I opted to go against the court order,” Haddix said in the third episode of the series, the motion said. “Tonka was actually on the run with me. [laughs] I mean literally on the run with me. Before PETA came and took the kids, Tonka had a massive stroke. I feel like God gave me that opportunity and I just took advantage. Basically we just demised [sic] a plan to say he died.”
The motion also said Casey recommended Haddix bring Tonka to Viestra in Ohio. The chimp remained with Viestra for at least six months, and Haddix frequently visited Tonka before taking the chimpanzee back to live with her.
In the third episode of “Chimp Crazy,” Haddix and Viestra go into detail about a plan in which Viestra was going to dig up a corpse of recently deceased chimp named Ricky that Haddix could use as proof that Tonka had died, according to the motion.
“It was so important to me to help Tonia protect her relationship with Tonka so I said I’ve got Ricky out [laughing] there,” Viestra said in the episode, the motion said. “What a better purpose for him to be part of this greater scheme of things. So, we dug him up [Haddix laughing in the background] but he was very much uhhh 80% decomposed. Now mind you, I had already removed his head. I did want to preserve his skull.”
“When our house by the lake was ready, we went to go pick up Tonka. And Ricky,” Haddix said in the episode. “So here we had this chimp body in the back our truck with the fugitive [Tonka] going all the way from Ohio to Missouri and if we would’ve been stopped for any reason they would’ve thought they were human remains because they’re so closely related with no head [laughing].”
“Like a Jeffrey Dahmer thing,” Viestra said.
PETA’s motion also claims the notoriety Haddix has gained from being featured in the documentary has allowed her to capitalize on her “flagrant disobedience” of court orders through merchandising and other opportunities now available because of her celebrity and shows her “apparent effort to monetize their misconduct.”
The motion said Haddix has sold merchandise through Etsy and a personal website, made a Cameo account to deliver personalized videos, set up to online fundraisers and appear on multiple podcasts. She was even parodied on “Saturday Night Live” since the debut of “Chimp Crazy” on Aug. 18, according to the motion.
The motion said “Chimp Crazy” is on pace to be the biggest documentaries at HBO in many years, surpassing 2.3 million viewers.
“The Endangered Species Act – both its substantive protections and its citizen suit provisions – cannot function as Congress intended, and in the manner this Court vindicated, under the shadow of such contempt going inadequately addressed,” the motion said. “Haddix so publicly disobeying this Court and then profiting from her disobedience by sharing it with a national audience will only incentivize future defendants to engage in similar misconduct unless this Court decisively intervenes.”
In the motion, PETA requested for the court to allow the organization to gather additional evidence related to the “Chimp Crazy” revelations. If the court does find Haddix and her alleged accomplices in contempt, PETA is seeking appropriate sanctions and to recoup the costs associated with the new filing.
Haddix was ordered in March 2023 to pay $224,404.24 in attorney fees to PETA, according to court documents.
Click to read past Leader coverage on the events that led to "Chimp Crazy."