The subject of the recently released HBO docuseries “Chimp Crazy” had to pay PETA a significant amount of money following several perjury charges.
Tonia Haddix, the former nurse, exotic animal broker, and self-titled “Dolly Parton of Chimps,” was featured in the recently released “Chimp Crazy,” a four-part documentary series produced by HBO.
The docuseries follows her polarizing life as the foster parent and caretaker of a “Chimp Nursery“ in Festus, Missouri, where she raised multiple chimpanzees, the most famous being Hollywood star Tonka from movies like “George of the Jungle” and “Buddy.”
Following the series’ release on August 18, 2024, viewers have been curious about her personal life, which is not shown onscreen, particularly her financial situation and net worth.
While details of her finances are not publicly available, careful assumptions and estimations can help establish a rough range.
Her life as a nurse before she got into the exotic animal business couldn’t have possibly left her a chunk of savings after expenses, with the average salary of nurses being only about $60,000 in 2010.
After the death of Connie Casey, the original owner of the Missouri Primate Foundation (formerly Chimparty), the chimp nursery Tonia worked in, she took ownership of 7 chimpanzees in the late 2010s.
She raised these animals in the facility and her Sunrise Beach home, where People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) famously objected to their living conditions.
It is not known if Tonia profited monetarily from these chimpanzees or how she managed the money to care for them.
Perhaps it was her family who helped her chimpanzee ventures financially.
Tonia was married to truck driver Gary Dean Haddix, who died on December 4, 2020.
She married Jerry Aswegan in 2021, who ran a mobile petting zoo business.
She is a grandmother and has two children, Justin and Erica Range.
Viewers of the show will tell you about her complex relationship with her children, with her own son claiming that she loves her chimpanzees more than her kin.
Her son, Justin, said in the show,
I’ve never seen her that passionate about anything in my life, ever. And, that includes her own son.
HBO
Haddix’s legal troubles began in 2017 when PETA raised concerns about the conditions at the Missouri Primate Foundation, citing that the facility did not meet the federal standards for animal care.
Following this, Haddix agreed to send four of the seven chimps to a different sanctuary and was able to keep three by a consent decree.
When she was asked to hand over Tonka as well, Tonia falsely claimed that he had died months ago due to heart failure, while in truth, she had him hidden in the basement of her Sunrise Beach house.
In June 2022, the authorities discovered Tonka following a tip, which led to further legal action against her.
Consequently, Haddix was ordered to pay PETA over $224,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs for repeatedly committing perjury and submitting false information to the court.
Currently, Haddix faces up to 5 years in prison for additional criminal charges.
It is unknown how much HBO paid Haddix to be the subject of the docuseries.
Typically, documentary subjects are not paid directly to avoid compromising the integrity, honesty, and authenticity of the documentary; instead, they are only reimbursed for expenses like travel and accommodation.
HBO, a subsidiary of parent company Warner Bros., has substantial financial resources and budgets ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to a couple of million dollars for documentary series; it is unclear how much of the production budget was paid to Tonia Haddix.
In conclusion, Tonia Haddix’s net worth is challenging to establish, having no public financial records and no credible sources of income.
However, considering her lack of revenue sources and the fact that she had to pay a significant amount to PETA as demanded by the court, her financial situation is probably not the best.
Her net worth could range anywhere from a couple thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand.
As an illegal exotic animal broker, her income sources are shrouded in mystery despite the thorough documentation of her ventures.
As Tonia Haddix’s story unfolds and her web of lies becomes untangled, we may soon come close to unveiling her actual financial status.
