ST. LOUIS — A caretaker for several chimpanzees at a facility near Festus is defiant in the face of a court order this week that says she must turn over all of the chimps to an animal rights group.
Tonia Haddix said she has no plans to comply with the order, which says she repeatedly failed to follow a consent decree signed with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in which she agreed to give up four chimps. She was allowed to keep three, but only in a facility built to specific standards with a full-time chimpanzee caregiver, a part-time maintenance worker and experienced volunteers.
Haddix told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday that one chimp, 38-year-old Tonka, died over the weekend, likely of a heart attack or stroke. She called it a "great loss to everybody here,” and said. “He definitely was my favorite.”
