HBO Docuseries Sparks PETA Charges Against Sunrise Beach Resident

By Vicki Wood

Sunrise Beach Animal Safari owned by HaddixPhoto bySunrise Beach Animal Safari Facebook

The docuseries by Tiger King creators starring Sunrise Beach resident Tonya Haddix on HBO Max has brought new charges against her from PETA.Tonya Haddix who owns and operates Sunrise Beach Animal Safari is the star of a new docuseries titled "Chimp Crazy." The show deals with her lawsuit by PETA in the case of her care of a former Hollywood animal chimpanzee actor, Tonka.From PETA:Notorious animal dealer Tonia Haddix, who faked the death of Tonka the chimpanzee, was ordered by a federal court to pay nearly $225,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to PETA after she repeatedly committed perjury and submitted false information to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Tonya Haddix with TonkaPhoto byHBO Studios

PETA is accusing Haddix once again of perjury in her interviews for the new HBO Max series. The whole case dates back to Haddix's involvement at the Missouri Primate Foundation in 2022 in Festus, Missouri, before she moved to Sunrise Beach. PETA is unhappy with Haddix’s care of seven chimpanzees that she cared for at that facility. They argue that feeding them McDonald’s Happy Meals and Powerade was cruel and neglectful. PETA is urging viewers to contact Congress to support a Captive Primate Safety Act which would ban private ownership, breeding, and commercial trade of primates.Tonka was removed from the hiding place in Sunrise Beach in 2022 that Haddix was keeping him at. He now lives at Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Florida. According to PETA and actor Alan Cummings who starred alongside Tonka in the movie, Buddy, “Prior to Tonka’s rescue, Haddix had claimed that he was suffering from congestive heart failure and that she was planning for him to be euthanized within days. But an extensive physical exam performed by veterinarians experienced with chimpanzees showed that Tonka was not suffering from the disease—Haddix had apparently been giving him massive doses of drugs that he didn’t need.” The allegations continued with a veterinarian at Save the Chimps saying “While Tonka needs dental work and is substantially overweight, the examination did not show signs of congestive heart failure, which his former owner claimed he had for the last year. He shows no need for the heavy doses of medications that she was reportedly giving him or the euthanasia she was reportedly considering.

”According to Rolling Stone Magazine, she had offered ground up coffee ashes as proof of Tonka’s demise. Haddix allegedly falsely and perjuriously claimed under oath that Tonka had died prior to the transfer. An additional hearing in this matter is scheduled for June 15, 2025, at which time Haddix will have the opportunity to present her case and at which point her perjury and contempt of court will be addressed by officials. Rolling Stone Magazine and The Los Angeles Times have both featured Haddix, Rolling Stone with a full photo shoot layout. The LA Times says that Haddix’s new show is what prompted PETA back into action against her, after she has already paid a hefty fine after a judge awarded PETA claims in the previous lawsuit. The case had carried Haddix to her new home in Sunrise Beach according to the LA Times news. “During the proceedings, Haddix tearfully recalled how she’d found Tonka — one of seven apes whose care she’d overseen at a former chimp breeding facility in Missouri — dead the previous May. Sitting in front of her laptop at her home near the Lake of the Ozarks, Haddix became so overwhelmed with emotion during her testimony that a judge interrupted her racking sobs and ordered a 10-minute recess for her to compose herself. “It is my belief that Ms. Haddix makes things up,” said Missouri Senior District Judge Catherine D. Perry. “But does that convince me that Tonka is alive, and she has hidden him? No, it does not.” It seems that the ashes did work and the judge sided with Haddix."

A huge grin spread across her face as she pumped her fists in the air on the HBO docuseries. She looked around at the film crew and told them that she had won on the show "Chimp Crazy." Haddix proceeded to tell the film crew and her husband that they needed to keep Tonka hidden, where he was kept in a basement cage. That Zoom call with the court caught on camera for the show's filming is what is causing PETA to act again, proving that Haddix perjured herself in the January 2022 case. The segment is what prompted PETA to write to the Assistant U.S. Attorney's office to request a criminal investigation into both Haddix and her husband, Jerry Aswegan.

As for her local Sunrise Beach business, PETA has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove Haddix's animal welfare act license which allows her to operate Sunrise Beach Animal Safari, where her and her husband make sloths, kangaroos, and llamas available to interact with visitors. According to the LA Times, it also allows her to sell exotic animals through Primarily Primates, LLC. During her court case with PETA, Haddix declared that she makes approximately $80,000 per year selling creatures like caracal wildcats, Asian small-clawed otters, Egyptian fruit bats and African crested porcupines. She has declined to further comment on the show or the case involving PETA to our requests. She did tell Fox News 2 in St. Louis, “I still stand on my promise to Tonka, and I would do anything to protect him from the evil clutches of PETA and the hell hole they placed him in. And that if the judicial system was just, he never would have left the only home he’s ever known.”The final episode of Chimp Crazy aired on Sunday, Sep 8, 2024, on HBO Max, with the three previous episodes available on download.