Tonia Haddix Admits Lying Repeatedly to Court About Death of Chimpanzee Tonka

A Missouri woman on Monday admitted lying in U.S. District Court and in court filings about the purported death of ‘Tonka’, a chimpanzee that was one of the subjects of a long-running federal civil suit.

Tonia Haddix waived her right to indictment by a grand jury and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three felony charges: two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice.

She admitted that her false statements influenced and obstructed the administration of justice in the pending civil suit.

That suit, originally filed in 2016, involved allegations by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) over the care of primates, including Tonka, at a facility near Festus, Missouri.  

On October 2, 2020, the District Court entered its consent decree requiring that Haddix, who was then operating the Festus facility, take certain steps relative to Tonka.  What followed, based upon Haddix’s failure to comply with the provisions of the District Court’s consent decree, were a series of motions seeking civil contempt against Haddix filed by PETA.  

The District Court entered a number of orders granting temporary restraining orders against Haddix, finding Haddix in civil contempt relative to the District Court’s consent decree.  

On March 26, 2021, the District Court issued a temporary restraining order against Haddix, requiring that Haddix not transfer Tonka and continue to provide appropriate caregiving to him.  

On July 14, 2021, the District Court found Haddix in violation of that order and entered an additional order requiring that Tonka and six other chimpanzees be transferred from Haddix’s possession to the Center for Great Apes.  During that July 14, 2021 hearing, Haddix falsely claimed that Tonka had died but failed to provide the Court with proof of death.  

The District Court’s July 14, 2021, order provided that the transfer of Tonka and the six other chimpanzees to the Center for Great Apes be carried out by PETA representatives, the Center for Great Apes, and Deputy U.S. Marshals.  

On July 28, 2021, access was only provided to the six chimpanzees, which were duly transferred to the Center for Great Apes, but Haddix provided no information on the whereabouts of Tonka.  

On August 2, 2021, PETA filed its fourth motion seeking civil contempt against Haddix for failing to transfer Tonka as ordered by the District Court.  

On August 16, 2021, Haddix filed her declaration with the District Court, under penalty of perjury, which contained the materially false statement that on May 30, 2021, Tonka died.  

On that same date, [my husband] cremated Tonka’s body.  After the cremation, he gave me Tonka’s cremated remains.  Since then, I have retained—and continue to retain—Tonka’s remains.”  

Haddix knew well at that time that Tonka was not dead but alive and living in a known location. On December 27, 2021, Haddix filed in the District Court her pro se motion to dismiss with prejudice PETA’s fourth motion seeking civil contempt.  

In that motion, Haddix again made numerous materially false representations that Tonka was dead.  Her materially false statements influenced, obstructed and impeded the due administration of justice in that pending civil case.  

On January 5, 2022, the District Court convened a hearing during which Haddix gave sworn testimony and again made materially false statements, including that on May 30, 2021, “…and then I went in and I opened the cage door, and [Tonka] was dead.  He was dead.”  “…we took him around and let the chimps say good-bye. Then we put him in the Gator and we backed the Gator up against the truck, the bed of the truck, the tailgate, and then we put his body over into the truck and then he left.”  “…and I waited for [my husband] to call me, to let me know [that he had completed his cremation.]”  “…I wanted to keep trying to save Tonka if I could. But then he just died on his own, so there was no saving him.”  

Based upon her false testimony, the District Court denied PETA’s motion for civil contempt.

On June 2, 2022, based upon newly discovered evidence presented to the District Court that Tonka was alive, the District Court entered its temporary restraining order requiring Haddix to cooperate in the transfer of Tonka from her possession to a facility designated by PETA.  

On June 8, 2022, representatives of PETA and representatives of the Save the Chimps Foundation, with the assistance of Deputy U.S. Marshals, were finally able to transfer Tonka from where he was being held in a cage in Haddix’s basement to a Save the Chimps sanctuary, where Tonka continues to live to this date.

Haddix is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16. Each perjury charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. The obstruction charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the same fine range.