support comes from the Missouri Forest Products Association providing more than 41,000 jobs in the production of wood pallets railroad ties White Oak barrels hardwood floors and more details at choos wood.com from St Louis Public [Music] Radio this is St Louis on the air you know perhaps instead of Tonka being uh used in abuse for entertainment industry uh Tanya hadex has a place in Hollywood uh because it's just remarkable how many times she she's been able to force herself to to break down you talking about it gets you upset because I love those kids more than anything in life she denied him expert Veterinary Care fresh air and the ability to enjoy time with other chimpanzees and see that's the only I care about he really could not be deprived much more than he was a team of expert staff will ensure that he has given everything that he wants and needs in his best interests I'm Sarah fensky it's been 5 months since we discussed the Curious Case of a Missouri chimpanzee named Tonka at the time a Missouri woman named Tanya hadex was locked in a legal dispute with Peta hadex owned the Missouri primate Foundation but Peta alleged The Festus compound was home to squalid conditions a federal judge in St Louis agreed she ordered hadex to turn over Tonka for transfer to an animal sanctuary hadex insisted she couldn't that Tonka was dead but Peta has now uncovered new evidence that is beyond dispute Tonka was actually alive the whole time stuck in a cage in Tanya hack's basement in Sunrise Beach Missouri and joining us now with the latest is Jared Goodman he is the Peta foundation's vice president and Deputy General Council for animal law and has been litigating this case for years now Jared welcome back thanks so much for having me Sarah so Jared just for those who aren't aware of the backstory on this Tonka was a high-profile chimp for reasons Beyond this litigation that you fought for years what was his celebrity connection yeah so he was he appeared in some films back in the 90s uh including most not buddy with Alan who has worked with Peta for the last several years to uh help try to find Tonka and ensure that he could live out the rest of his days in an accredited sanctuary and so Tonka was stuck living after his movie career ended he ended up at this Missouri primate foundation in Festus Missouri and the conditions there have been well litigated um what were the biggest problems that were found with this facility where this this chimp was living yeah so the the Missouri primate Foundation was the primary breeder for chimpanzees who were used in the entertainment industry and pet trade and once chimpanzees get too big to use for that purpose they often end up warehoused in facilities like this and peta's investigation as well as federal government investigations revealed that they were living in squalor there were insect infestations filth everywhere the chimpanzees many of them never had the opportunity to even step outside uh USDA inspectors and and uh our our co-plaintiff in the case visited the facility and could not even enter one of the rooms without their nasal passages burning from the ammonia scent because it was so filthy there um so so we sued Under The Endangered Species Act to work to get these chimpanzees to sanctuary and ultimately uh judge Katherine Perry here in St Louis she ordered that all these chimps needed be transferred from this facility to an animal sanctuary and that's when all of a sudden we start hearing Tanya hadock saying that no Tonka can't be transferred that he died of natural causes that her husband had cremated his body you were extremely skeptical about those claims from the get-go what had you thought at the time that had happened to Tonka uh well that's that's exactly right I mean we never gave up on finding Tonka because we never believ the lies that she told about his death um and this included sworn statements under oath uh and testimony in open court where there was this elaborate story about how he died and then was cremated on a burn pit at impossible temperatures and so during a hearing back in January we presented unrefuted evidence to the court that Tanya hax's story about what happened to Tonka does not make any sense and at that time the court ultimately held that it didn't believe T had story but we ultimately were not able to prove that tono was living because we hadn't had eyes on him so we we never gave up searching for him and now nearly a year after he should have been rescued last July he finally can thrive in a lush Sanctuary where he'll receive the expert care that he's really been denied his entire life and especially over the last several months as he has been confined to Tanya hax's basement so in a cage yeah so this was it sorry in a small cage that's right so you had made very clear you weren't giving up on this but here he is stuck in this basement you had no way of being able to get down there and see this basement how did you get the word out that hey we're on top of this we want more information about what happened to Tonka so Peta and Alan uh his co-star in buddy issued a a $2,000 reward for information leading to tonka's whereabouts or confirmation than he actually died and ultimately that was actually never claimed but between that and and our own investigations that's how we were attempting to get more information as to where he might be so this all came to a head just in the last couple weeks here you filed in court on June 1st asking for an urgent temporary restraining order what got you to the point where you're like okay Judge Perry we're back we have information uh so we suddenly uh were able to receive a recording of a phone call in which Tanya hadex admitted that Tonka was alive and claimed that she was euthanizing him on June 2nd so we had no option but to seek an emergency order uh to save tonka's life and to give him the chance to be rescued so this recording um this is just absolutely critical information in this case this is a 28 minute uh phone call it allows us to listen as Tanya hadock talks to an unnamed person this is a person whose voice has been altered to protect their identity now in this recording Tanya says that Tonka is her best friend and that losing him will be like losing a child but she says that her vet this is Dr Casey talbet has said that Tonka is in congestive heart failure and insisted that he be euthanized and Casey wanted me to put him down the other day but I just couldn't do it so he um made an appointment for the second of May um of June sorry um to be committed I mean he's going to make me stand firm on that appointment um because he don't think I'm being fair to Tonka and now in this call Tanya hadock protested that unlike other people she only cares about tonka's welfare and see that's the only thing I care about him not the other St not what money to get out of him nothing do you realize I if he was not a wanted fion you he could make a million dollars off the Tik Tok off and that is Tanya hadex in a recording of a phone call obtained by Peta a couple things here Jared first this obviously proves that Tonka is still alive because she's planning to have him euthanized the next day she also describes him as a wanted fugitive she'd previously been caught um in a phone call talking about Tonka claimed it was maybe just a different Tonka was this the proof you needed that she's talking about this same same uh Tonka there can be no doubt this is the chimp that you guys had been searching for that's absolutely right so we did um in that hearing back in January we were able to present to the court a text message from Tanya hadex stating that Tonka needed groceries um and that's when she invented the story while under oath that she was referring to a different tono who she named um that in memory of Tak the chimpanzee but here we have a situation where um she is just unquestionably referring to the chimpanzee the health conditions that she previously claimed he had and uh and since has apparently admitted that this was Tonka uh in in other published reports so what was going through your mind when you finally got a chance to hear this 28 minute phone call I mean in some ways this is confirmation of everything you'd been saying on the other hand she was planning for him to be euthanized in very short order what was going through your mind um we knew we needed to rush to court immediately there wasn't much time to consider much else than that um we we needed to get to court and have Judge Perry issue in order that would save his life and so I think we have to remember that everything that tin hadic says must be taken with a grain of salt in light of her repeated again under oath and ins sworn affidavits um but we do know that she denied him expert Veterinary Care fresh air and the ability to enjoy time with other chimpanzees um while she references her her veterinarian in that phone call seeing Tonka you know our understanding is that he actually did not receive any Veterinary Care between May of last year and now so your understanding is that she made up this whole convers ation with with this vet oh not necessarily it's it's very difficult to assess what is true and what is not um but we we do know um from the veterinarian himself that he he did not personally treat Tonka between May of last year and now wow so she also makes very clear in this call how much she hates Peta how much she really dislikes you personally she blames this as your Cru said were you worried that she might kill Tonka just so that you couldn't have him that if you didn't act fast enough um you know if the judge couldn't somehow stop her from doing this she'd obviously been in defiance of court orders before this yes so uh we actually had to go to the court exp parte which means that we did not serve a copy of our motion on Miss hadex as an emergency uh because we believe that if she received notice that we knew Tonka was there she would again secret him away to some other entirely inappropriate enclosure where he would continue to suffer and probably be killed by her uh so so we actually uh in this motion had the federal court uh order that US Marshals serve the order on Miss hattic and we were able to monitor the property from the moment she received notice of this until we arrived with our vet veterinarians to assess Tonka to ensure that he actually was healthy enough to move and so when you were able to get there um and and these people on this team could then see Tonka what was that moment like um it was incredible uh certainly we we were just so thrilled to finally locate him uh but based on Miss haddix's statements there were still un some uncertainty about his condition and what we learned from the veterinarian's evaluation is that that you know whether it be because her veterinarian was not sufficiently experienced with chimpanzees or because her statements were just not truthful uh in this recording and elsewhere uh but Tonka is not on the verge of death uh he was absolutely healthy enough to be moved and there's no reason at this point um as we are you know we're still awaiting the results of some Veterinary examination um there's no reason at this point to think that he will not live a long and healthy life in a sanctuary and yet we now know that he spent probably about a year um depending on when he was actually moved into this basement cage in defiance of court orders um the thinking is that he was not able to go outside at all during that time that he was stuck in this small cage that had to have have been a very difficult thing for a chimp who was used to being around people um and and of course like all of us wants fresh air yes yes he really could not be deprived much more than he was uh he did not have the ability to interact with any other members of his species to go outside and explore to climb to brachiate any of his natural behaviors were thwarted by being held in this cage that was built into half of a room in a basement and so there has been some push back from some of Tanya hax's supporters saying this cage is not as bad as as Peta made it look like this was actually a big cage what would you say to that that's false I mean the the photos really speak for themselves um this was again a cage built into part of a room in her home's basement it is unfortunately exactly what you picture when you hear a description like that he was imprisoned in a basement um and everything natural was taken away from him so I was able to talk to Tanya hadock herself in January I called her on the phone she answered agreed to talk on the record and I confronted her at that time directly about these allegations well so as you know um Peta is accusing you of Faking the death of Tonka they say you didn't want to turn him over and so you faked his death wh what's your response to that well first of all if anybody knows about housing a chimpanzee that would be pretty much an absurd statement how so well first of all um you to hide a chimpanzee that's 250 lb is um kind of it's it's as Peta said in their statement about me o them 18,000 for um moving Tonka um you know if they were if they won the Judgment um the thing of it is is um if it cost them $8,000 just to move one chimpanzee from Missouri to Florida could you imagine what be to be hiding and housing a chimpanzee for they left in July and this is um you know January so how many of months and Tanya hadex insisted that not only had Tonka died in April of 2021 but that she was devastated by that loss I'm not opposed to euthanization I'm not opposed to any of that stuff but I'm a big ball bag whenever it comes to the animals just like I broke down a court even talking about it get you upset because I love those kids more than anything in life as I stated on the courtroom steps I love those chimpanzees more than I did my my two children that I have so it was devastating and so that is Tanya hadock we now know when she talked to me in January she was flat out Ling um there's even tears that one appears to be hearing on that Jared Goodman what strikes you listening back to that today you know perhaps instead of Tonka being uh used in abuse fore entertainment and industry uh Tanya hadex has a place in Hollywood uh because it's just remarkable how many times she she's been able to force herself to to break down talking about his death and exactly how she and her husband disposed of his body um and as we we know now it was really all absolutely fabricated um and so we there is a hearing on this scheduled for June 15th in in federal court and Miss hadex will have the opportunity to explain herself to the judge and explain why she shouldn't be locked in a cage for her perjury and contempt of court yeah I mean the one thing that lawyers will tell you is you don't lie under oath to a federal judge could she be looking at something like criminal contempt that would involve her being locked up for for what she's done is that a possibility in the legal Arena absolutely um and you very rarely have a clear case of perjury like this where it was such an an elaborate story that was constructed and there was a conspiracy to do so also um again with her husband also submitting a false affid ofate to the court um and then just such clear evidence that it they were all willful lies well this is such an amazing kind of wild Lega s legal Saga that we're all looking back on today um but at the heart of it there is this chimp this chimp who remains alive and she had said he was in congestive heart failure you're saying you're hopeful that that he's actually going to be okay here what do we know in our final minute what do we know about his his new life well we know he was overweight when when we got to him so he will be now fed an appropriate diet and have the opportunity to exercise and continue to receive appropriate care um from a team of expert staff who Focus their entire lives on providing round-the-clock care to chimpanzees like Tonka um whether they need human companionship and interaction or with other chimpanzees um they will ensure that he has given everything that he wants and needs in his best interests well Jared Goodman uh we thank you for joining us today and we hope you'll keep us updated after this hearing on June 15th to see what happens to Tanya had absolutely love to talk to you again Sarah today's episode was produced by Sarah fensky and Avery Rogers our audio engineer is Aaron door this episode was mixed and edited by our production intern aphy Alex Hoyer is our executive producer St Louis on the air is a production of St Louis Public [Music] Radio understanding starts here [Music] do you find yourself regularly listening to episodes of St Louis on the air suggest us to a friend you think might enjoy our conversations and leave us a review and rating on Apple podcasts on the App Store it's the simplest way to help people 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