HBO’s ‘Chimp Crazy’ Featuring Missing Local Hollywood Chimpanzee Sparks Push to Ban Primates as ‘Pets’

For Immediate Release:
August 22, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

The maker of Tiger King is back with a twisted tale that is simply bananas. Chimp Crazy—director Eric Goode’s new four-part HBO docuseries—unravels the real-life mystery of missing movie chimpanzee Tonka and follows PETA’s unrelenting work to find him. Tonka was one of several chimpanzees owned by local wild-animal broker Tonia Haddix when he vanished from a decrepit breeding outfit in Festus in 2021, sparking a nationwide search by PETA with help from actor Alan Cumming, who appeared alongside the chimpanzee in the film Buddy. PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet—who appears in Chimp Crazy and worked on Tonka’s case—is available for interviews.

Peet could share behind-the-scenes details and talk about PETA’s support of the new bipartisan Captive Primate Safety Act. The proposed legislation would prohibit private ownership, private breeding, and all commercial activity involving primates used in the pet trade.

“Chimp Crazy pulls back the curtain on a seedy industry in which unhinged humans, hell-bent on exploiting chimpanzees as props and “pets,” are willing to defy authorities and endanger everyone around them,” says Peet. “PETA encourages everyone moved by the tragic stories featured in Chimp Crazy to contact their legislators and urge them to support the Captive Primate Safety Act.”

PETA notes that chimpanzees kept as “pets” are often bred in captivity by dealers, torn away from their mothers as babies, sold to anyone with a big enough bank account, denied any chance at a natural life, and forced to do whatever their owner chooses. Thanks to PETA’s campaigns, chimpanzees are no longer used in films, and the group is working to ensure that no more great apes are exploited by roadside zoos or the pet trade.

The Captive Primate Safety Act was recently reintroduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.-03) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.-01). The legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.-01) and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.-02).

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