PETA Statement re Chimp Crazy’s Tonia Haddix Arrested After Failure to Turn Over Financial Records to PETA

For Immediate Release:
July 20, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Chimp Crazy villain Tonia Haddix was arrested by U.S. Marshals Saturday after a Missouri state court judge found four companies affiliated with the notorious wild animal broker—and her husband, Jerry Aswegan—in contempt of court for ignoring orders to hand over financial records and other related documents to PETA. She was released this morning after being held by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. Aswegan has not yet been arrested but is expected to be taken into custody at any time.

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet:

“PETA spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to find Tonka, get him out of the cage in Tonia Haddix’s basement, and move him to the spacious sanctuary where he’s now thriving, and Haddix can’t keep dodging the court’s orders to pay back the money she owes. PETA trusts this jail time will be just a taste of the longer sentence she’ll face next month.”

Tonia Haddix was booked into jail in Camden County on Saturday after being arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Haddix pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of perjury and one count of obstructing justice for lying to a federal judge about Tonka’s whereabouts and disobeying a court order to surrender him to PETA, as revealed in HBO’s Emmy-nominated Chimp Crazy docuseries.

In 2023, PETA served Aswegan with a subpoena for the documents as part of its efforts to collect the $225,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs Haddix had been ordered to pay after she lied to the court. Aswegan ignored PETA’s subpoena, forcing PETA to file a motion in November asking a federal judge to order him to respond and find him in contempt. The federal judge granted the motion and later gave Aswegan a deadline to defend himself against the civil contempt accusation, which Aswegan missed. PETA then subpoenaed the companies directly through the state court.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in anyway”—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 PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.