On Wednesday, the deceptively named ‘People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ were left looking like absolute clowns in court after claiming that a Missouri woman was hiding a chimp from them.
Last year, Tonia Haddix was ordered to turn over her chimpanzees to the controversial organization — despite a dire warning from their veterinarian that they would be in grave danger being transferred to a new facility.
According to Haddix and her veterinarian, one of the chimps, a 40-year-old named Tonka, passed away months before PETA seized the animals.
However, PETA claimed that the 5’2, 100-pound woman was secretly hiding the 250-pound chimp — and wanted her thrown in prison for contempt over it.
The court had ordered Haddix to provide proof of the chimp’s death, but admitted that they did not know what that would look like.
The judge stated, “I’m going to order that within seven days of today’s date, Ms. Haddix provide to Mr. Goodman proof that the chimpanzee, Tonka, has — is deceased. And I don’t know what that proof will be, but we need something.”
In order to comply, Haddix provided the chimp’s veterinarian’s affidavit, offered to provide the organization with ashes from the chimp’s cremation, a photo of him after death, offered to allow them to come to her property, and offered take a lie detector test and pay for it out of her own pocket.
None of this was good enough for PETA — and their lawyer Jared Goodman continued to press for contempt charges against Haddix.
On Wednesday, Judge Catherine D. Perry, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Missouri, sided with Haddix in determining their claims to be ridiculous and unfounded — even though PETA was dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into their case against her and she was representing herself pro-se.
“Today was a very hard day, having to relive Tonka’s death over and continue defending myself against PETA,” Haddix told the Gateway Pundit. “I am praying to put this chapter of my life to rest and focus on my health — and continue to help any animal out there that needs it.”
“I will continue to support private ownership and fight for our rights against the terrorist group PETA,” Haddix continued.
Haddix had inherited the chimps from Connie Casey, who ran the Missouri Primate Foundation, once she became unable to continue caring for them. Haddix has dedicated the last five years of her life to giving them the best lives possible.
The Gateway Pundit traveled to the facility in Festus, Missouri, and confirmed that it was impeccably clean and massive.
The bond Haddix shared with the chimps was also on full display as they happily greeted her and used sign language to ask for their favorite snacks.
VIDEOS OF THE FACILITY:
PETA launched its first lawsuit against Casey in 2016, claiming that MPF violated the Endangered Species Act because the facility was not good enough and she had allowed them to be used in movies. They subsequently carried their lawsuit over to Haddix, even though their concerns about Casey no longer applied.
Prior to the animals being seized, the veterinarian that treats Haddix’s animals, Casey Talbot, DVM, filed an affidavit with the court saying that the chimps will not be safe if they are moved to another sanctuary.
“It is my understanding, based on conversations with Ms. Haddix, that Crystal and Mikayla have had minimal contact —and thus, have not been socialized— with other chimpanzees. From my own observations of Crystal and Mikayla, it is my belief that neither Crystal and Mikayla are particularly assertive,” Talbot wrote. “On this basis, It is my belief that Crystal and Mikayla would be at significant risk of injury, including serious injury, if they were to be introduced to chimpanzees with whom they were unfamiliar.”
The complete affidavit can be read here:
Talbot Decl by Cassandra Fairbanks
Chimps, like humans, form strong bonds with the other animals and people in their troops. They spend their entire lives together, and when they are seized and placed into new troops, their chance of being accepted, and surviving, is a gamble. For older chimps like the ones that Haddix cared for, the risk is even greater.
The truth about PETA is that for every case in which they make a positive difference for animals, there are sordid stories of them going after good people and destroying their businesses, livelihoods, and often the animals themselves.
In many of these primate cases, PETA will place chimps that they are awarded with an organization and sanctuary called Project Chimp, founded in 2014 following the end of National Institutes of Health funding for biomedical research on these animals.
Last July, PETA had to issue a statement responding to twenty-two whistleblowers from Project Chimp who alleged severe animal abuse at their facilities. They did not end their relationship with the organization, which many believed to be hypocritical given how hard they are on everyone else.
The whistleblowers alleged poor veterinary care, overcrowding, rushed chimpanzee introductions, insufficient enrichment, and infrequent access to the outdoors. Far worse conditions than a chimp would face with Haddix. PETA did not call for chimps to be removed from their care.
PETA also used a Project Chimp truck to pick up Haddix’s chimps. Though they were not being sent there, it was further evidence of their continued relationship despite the abuse allegations.
PETA often sells themselves as trying to protect animals from being killed, but they hypocritically kill thousands themselves each year at their Virginia headquarters.
Documents uncovered by PETAKillsAnimals.com indicated that following an inspection of the PETA facilities, the Commonwealth of Virginia was so shocked by the number of animals they kill each year that the state inspector attempted to revoke their license to operate a shelter.
Dr. Daniel Kovich, the investigator with the VDACS that inspected PETA’s animal shelter in July 2010 determined “the facility does not contain sufficient animal enclosures to routinely house the number of animals annually reported as taken into custody.”
It turns out that PETA has never intended to keep animals that are surrendered to them.
“After reviewing two months worth of records, Kovich found that 245 of the 290 animals–84 percent–that PETA took into custody were killed within 24 hours. Only 17 were reported as adopted or in foster homes. Kovich noted that PETA’s shelter did not meet PETA’s own published guidelines for operating a humane animal shelter,” PETA Kills Animals reports.
You can watch PETA be confronted about their euthanasia program and proudly admit to it here (story continues below):
In 2019, PETA killed 1,500 cats and dogs. The following year, PETA’s so-called “shelter” took in 2,650 animals and euthanized 67% of the 1,763 animals.
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