Alan Cumming Asks Feds to Revoke License of Chimp Crazy’sTonia Haddix

For Immediate Release:
September 12, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

In response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) inaction in the case of notorious wild-animal broker Tonia Haddix—of Chimp Crazy infamy—PETA Honorary Director Alan Cumming sent a letter today to the agency urging it to revoke her federal Animal Welfare Act license, which allows her to legally sell wild animals and operate her roadside zoo in Camden County, Missouri.

“I am dismayed and disheartened to learn that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has done nothing to ensure that Haddix cannot hurt more animals,” writes Cumming. “She has shown through her actions and her own statements to the Chimp Crazy cameras that she has no regard for the law or for animal welfare. Surely such a person has no business holding an Animal Welfare Act license.”

As revealed in Chimp Crazy, Haddix committed perjury in federal court and violated court orders as part of her scheme to fake the death of Tonka the chimpanzee to prevent him from being transported to an accredited sanctuary. Cumming’s letter points out that it has been more than two and a half years since Haddix lied under oath and more than two years since PETA rescued Tonka from a cramped cage in her basement.

PETA previously urged the USDA to revoke Haddix’s license and provided the agency with the evidence of perjury and animal mistreatment it needs to do so. Prior to the release of Chimp Crazy, PETA alerted the USDA to the docuseries, giving it a chance to get ahead of any public criticism. The agency has so far refused to act.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers its free Empathy Kits for anyone who needs a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

Cumming’s letter to the USDA follows.

September 12, 2024

Sarah Helming

Deputy Administrator, Animal Care

USDA-APHIS-Animal Care

Dear Ms. Helming:

I am writing on behalf of PETA to urge the USDA without further delay to revoke Tonia Haddix’s federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) license (license no. 43-B-3839). I am shocked that Ms. Haddix is still able to legally sell wild and “exotic” animals and even operate a roadside zoo because she still has an AWA license from your agency.

If you have seen the HBO docuseries Chimp Crazy, you will know that I was involved in the campaign that ultimately secured the freedom of a chimpanzee named Tonka. You will also know that Ms. Haddix committed perjury and lied under oath during a Zoom hearing, stating that Tonka had died, when he was actually alive in a cramped cage in her basement, isolated from any other members of his species, denied expert veterinary care, and without the ability to appropriately exercise or even feel the sunlight on his skin.

It has now been more than two and a half years since Haddix lied under oath in that court hearing and more than two years since PETA rescued Tonka from impending death in Haddix’s dismal basement. I am dismayed and disheartened to learn that the USDA has done nothing to ensure that Haddix cannot hurt more animals. She has shown through her actions and her own statements on Chimp Crazy that she has no regard for the law or for animal welfare. Surely, such a person has no business holding an AWA license.

A national audience has now seen the extent of Haddix’s wildly cruel behavior. By continuing to allow her to peddle vulnerable wild animals to the highest bidder and operate her roadside zoo, the USDA is showing other AWA licensees and the American public that the agency that has been charged by Congress with ensuring the humane treatment of animals like Tonka will ignore even the worst of the worst behavior, which will only embolden the many bad faith actors already under the USDA’s jurisdiction. Despite the overwhelming evidence of Haddix’s perjury and unfitness to hold an AWA license, she continues to conduct her business with the imprimatur of legitimacy granted to her by AWA licensure. Until the USDA does the right thing, it will be complicit in her wrongful behavior.

Very truly yours,            

Alan Cumming

PETA Honorary Director