Phone Call Transcript
Phone Call Transcript
Exhibit B
Case: 4:16-cv-02163-CDP Doc. #: 367-3 Filed: 06/01/22 Page: 2 of 11 PageID #: 6027
TONIA HADDIX:
Hello?
INTERVIEWER:
Hey T, how are you?
TONIA HADDIX:
Good, what are you doing?
INTERVIEWER:
I'm sitting in my niece's backyard.
INTERVIEWER:
When is your son coming to your place?
TONIA HADDIX:
He's right here.
INTERVIEWER:
He's right there right now?
TONIA HADDIX:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
INTERVIEWER:
I was just thinking, would he talk to us? Can we interview you guys?
TONIA HADDIX:
Justin, would you be comfortable on that documentary to talk to them about your life growing up with
monkeys.
INTERVIEWER:
Right. That's what it would be about.
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah, he said yeah. He said, that'd be fine.
INTERVIEWER:
Having a monkey...
TONIA HADDIX:
[inaudible].
INTERVIEWER:
Having a monkey mom would be great. And we would to come you and we'd do it, like we did it before
with him.
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah. He said that'd be fine.
INTERVIEWER:
Right. What about your daughter? Can we...
TONIA HADDIX:
No, she's retarded.
INTERVIEWER:
I know.
TONIA HADDIX:
Well, she would, I guarantee.
TONIA HADDIX:
He's moving downstairs in the basement. That's why I'm going to get a picture [inaudible] and we finished
the bedroom and stuff.
INTERVIEWER:
Maybe we could come next week?
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah. Let me ask you something. I had Casey out the other day on Mr. T and he's in congestive heart
failure, again, really bad. And Casey wanted me to put him down the other day, but I just couldn't do it.
So he made an appointment for the 2nd of May. He's going-
INTERVIEWER:
Of June.
TONIA HADDIX:
Of June, sorry, to be committed. I mean, he's going to make me stand firm on the appointment because he
don't think I'm being fair to Tonka.
INTERVIEWER:
So he would come there and give him the injection?
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah, he's supposed to be sending me some volume and stuff over so I could give it to him before he
comes. So he'll be relaxed.
INTERVIEWER:
TONIA HADDIX:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
INTERVIEWER:
Today is the 22nd, so that's like 10 days from now?
TONIA HADDIX:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I didn't know if he'd want to be around then.
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah. Maybe we could interview your son and be around then at the same time. Let me run it by
everybody, but that would work.
TONIA HADDIX:
Because that's the end of the legacy.
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah. It is the end of the legacy. And how do you feel about that? I know kind of how do you feel about
that but is that...
TONIA HADDIX:
He's my best friend. So what do you think?
INTERVIEWER:
I know and I know the pressure that you're under from all of this to have to euthanize Tonka. I know
you've thought about this, but-
TONIA HADDIX:
If I don't, he's going to drown and Casey's certain, what if it's in the middle of the night and I can't get him
help, then what? You watch him die like that? Because it ain't like you can just go in a cage with him. If
he's scared, if there's no telling how upset he's going to be and he might hurt you, not intentionally, but
just... He's going to drown. And I know that clinically, but emotionally, like I told Casey, because I was
set on doing it the 16th or 18th when he came or 19th, when he came on Thursday. But I wanted him to
do a health assessment. I wanted him do lab work. I wanted him to try to fix him and he wouldn't even put
him down. He wouldn't even dart him.
TONIA HADDIX:
He said, "Tonia, I'm afraid he won't come back up." And I said, "Well, maybe that's a blessing because
then I don't have to make a tough decision, God will." But he wouldn't do it. And he told me I have to be
committed to him to do the right thing by him. We sat on the floor with him and we played with him
during the cage and Casey sat on the floor and he's like, "Tonia, look at him." I said, "I know, I know, I
know." [inaudible].
INTERVIEWER:
TONIA HADDIX:
Right. And it is, that's what he said. "Tonia, I'm watching him trying to get up on the table. He can't even
really do that." I said, "I know, he's sleeping all the time." I'm aware, but I just hope that he would... Some
days I go down there and I'd be like... I've been down there, but I [inaudible], I always switch him over
and play in the cage. So I'm getting ready to go do that. But he never go down there playing with him.
What's funny about it is some days he's real good about coming out, some days he doesn't want to come
out. And so that's the days he's really had a rough.
INTERVIEWER:
Wow. Have you talked to Connie about it?
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah. I called her that day that Casey was here and left and I'm not ever going to tell her that he had to be
euthanized because she doesn't agree with that. She doesn't think they should suffer, that's a terrible thing
to say, but she just thinks they should live their life out no matter what kind of quality of life.
INTERVIEWER:
Well, there's that argument too, right? I've known people that have felt the same, Kay Rose [inaudible]
was like that. She always felt the cats, they could hardly walk and the vets would say the same thing,
quality of life. And she was like, "No, they should live their life out." So that's always been...
TONIA HADDIX:
And Connie's from that old era, they didn't seek Medicare, they didn't pay attention to that type stuff. But
the thing that it is, again, you're going to endanger species because they believe in not harming and
harassing them, not getting them back here and not listening to your vet, then you're harming them
technically.
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah. Well, look, it's the same when humans get to that stage. Do you keep them alive on a ventilator or
do you let them go?
TONIA HADDIX:
No. Because I told you just like me, I don't want to do any more stuff, I'm done. I know what I want and I
should be able to do that for Tonka. But I don't know if I can, I'll be honest with you. I don't know that I
can let him go. And that's the sad part is because I'm being selfish and I know. You guys don't know how
much I love him.
INTERVIEWER:
I know.
TONIA HADDIX:
I haven't been going in cage with him. I'm taking off all my jewelry and stuff and I'm going to go sit with
him.
INTERVIEWER:
TONIA HADDIX:
No, I'm going to today. I'm going to do it until he dies because I think he needs that. He can't explain it to
you what I think he needs, but I won't have Jerry just watch the door. Not that he can stop him if he did
something to me, I don't think he ever will. I just have it in my mind, he's not going to. But I do have to
take my jewelry off because he likes to put my jewelry and if I didn't give it to him, he might get upset.
So I'm just going to make sure there's no obstacles there and I just got him to watch the door because if I
take a run for the door real quick, he better have it ready to be open so I can get out. Because the biggest
thing is I'm not worried about him hurting me, I'm worried about me getting out. If I had a catch cage on,
it'd be different. But because I don't have, it's one of those things that Tonka probably won't want me to
leave.
INTERVIEWER:
Right.
TONIA HADDIX:
That's going to be my biggest obstacle because I'd like to get him to get up in a hammock. He won't use
that hammock. He won't use that brand new swing. I brought him and put in there and he's got some
really cool stuff, but it's never been used one time.
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah. Ever since you put those things in there, he's never used them, right? He gets up on the table.
TONIA HADDIX:
He gets so low to the ground that he could just easily just get in there. It isn't like you'd have to make any
efforts to get into it, but he just won't, he loves swings or normally does. I know the difference in him, but
I knew he would get that way once it came home, because he's happy. And he is happy, that's one thing
Casey will say. He was worried about him because he was going to be singly housed. But he said, "Tonia,
he really, really loves people." "That's what I told you." He is a people chimp. He's not like other chimp,
he really isn't. And Cheeta was the same way. Cheeta loved to be 80 years old. He had two homes in his
whole entire life and that was Dan Westfall's uncle and then Dan got him. He moved 80 years with two
people.
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah. And his nephew had to talk Dan into letting him be the keeper.
TONIA HADDIX:
No, Dan is the nephew.
INTERVIEWER:
Oh, Dan's the nephew?
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah. The uncle used to have him, the one that trained him. And then when he was failing with cancer, he
had to beg him to let him have him.
INTERVIEWER:
Right. Yeah.
TONIA HADDIX:
Because he was going to have him euthanized just like I was. And it's just one of those things that you
have to, people just don't realize that you... It's a lot of work. But it's not about the work as far as the
physical part, but these chimps need because he trusts me. I can't tell you how much Tonka trust me.
INTERVIEWER:
No, I've seen it. Losing him I guess it's like losing a child.
TONIA HADDIX:
Even worse, I'll be honest with you. I just wanted a lot of promises to him because Tonka who loved a life
that's been good in so many ways. But in so many ways, it's terrible because we took... And I don't mean
me because I had nothing to do with it, but humans took a lot of weight from him because of their greed
of making money. [inaudible].
INTERVIEWER:
Right. He was tossed away.
TONIA HADDIX:
Even Connie, when he quit reading, she jump down back there where there was no air conditioning and
he was just ignored because nobody went back there. And so everybody used him as a commodity from
the word go. And just like Alan Cumming makes me sick. I mean, he nauseates me. If you watch those
interviews and let him talk, he talks about a huge bond with his chimp. Well, that man had money, why
didn't he buy him? Why didn't he provide him a good home for the rest of his life?
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah. How about that? I've read the articles with him.
TONIA HADDIX:
Well there's one, if you watch him, I'll send it to you. He talks about how PETA's trying to get a
subpoena. Well, first of all, he doesn't even know what he is talking about because why are they trying to
subpoena? Subpoena means they're trying to drag me into court. I've been to court with them. So that
doesn't make any sense. A subpoena doesn't mean a search warrant because that's a total different thing.
But if you watch the interview, you can tell he doesn't even know what he's talking about. And he even
openly admits that he works with PETA. So that tells you what kind of jerk ass he is. And this chimp has
been in Connie's care since he was nine years old and now he's 38 years old. And he says he cares about
him. Well, when he lived at [inaudible], then for 30 years or 29 [inaudible] it's a varsity.
TONIA HADDIX:
And that's why aggravated me most about this is because it's about him and see that's the only thing I care
about, is him. Not the other stuff, not lot money to get out of him, nothing. You realize if he was not a
wanted fugitive, do you realize you can make a million dollars off of TikTok off of him?
INTERVIEWER:
Yeah.
TONIA HADDIX:
That's true.
INTERVIEWER:
Is he a better actor than Alan Cumming's?
TONIA HADDIX:
By long shot. Not like that, but people are so fascinated by him. And could you imagine him having him
through those tricks and putting on masks and if he can do anything and he'll do anything I asked him to
do. I mean, that's the sad part. He would do anything for me. And so the thing of it is you could make a
ton of money if that's what you were after on money. But of course I'm not after money, I spend money
on the little dude, but the whole thing I'm upset about is... And I thought about that. The whole thing I
wanted to begin with just like out of that documentary is for people to realize the truth about those kids
and the truth about those other kids. You know what, they really are kids, even though they don't want to
believe they are, he's a kid. This kid is a kid. If you ever watch him with me on a day to day basis, that's I
think more than what this thing is, he's a kid.
INTERVIEWER:
Well, listen, at the end of the day, your legal liability, would they treat him as a kid? You think they
would treat this situation as a human situation? Like you had kidnapped a kid?
TONIA HADDIX:
No, because the only thing PETA wants to see at this point dealing, and I don't even really believe it's
PETA per se. I believe it's Jared Goodman. Come on, you know as well as I do, he has the biggest disdain
for me and not because he knows me, because he doesn't know me from Adam. He doesn't know what I'm
about or anything. I'm not a paranoid person and I'm not a person to think I'm all that because I really
don't. I'm very insignificant to almost everybody except for PETA right now. And it's Jared Goodman
more than it is PETA because he doesn't like it that I have enough and it isn't smart. It has nothing to do
with being intelligent.
TONIA HADDIX:
It has to do with the judge having feelings and having some compassion. And here's the deal. If I only had
my world true day, I don't even think Donald Trump would've won anywhere because anybody in their
right mind that knew the whole story would pay attention and really know the whole story would take the
time to get to know the whole story. If didn't matter to them, but it doesn't matter to nobody, not really.
But just like me, I tried like hell on the serious side of things. And even before I was so mad at PETA. I
was bearing to go. I literally begged them to let me and I wish I had some of the emails that between
Jared Goodman and myself, where I was begging him to just come and even use a third party person to
tell me what I needed to do to get Connie's facility to their standards, not even my standards or not
anybody else's standards, to what they consider politically correct.
TONIA HADDIX:
And tell us what staff ratios that they need and what they need to be able to keep them in that home.
Whenever I first went out there, that was like, I couldn't even see it any other way. The whole goal was
for them to stay at Connie's facility and Connie just be able to go visit them, but her not really do the
caregiving and basically get enough staff in there, either volunteer staff or paid staff with a 501(c)(3) and
that chimp could live in the only home and be around the only caregiver that they had ever known. And I
was not resistant to PETA at first. I actually was open to them and I was actually trying to work with
them if that's the words you want to use, to try to make sure that they would just accept that themselves
needed to be where they started out at.
TONIA HADDIX:
And I didn't care if it took a primatologist, I didn't care who they sent in but I told them I couldn't be them
because they were not non-biased, that it had to be a third party person of some flavor that would really
help and really see the love that we had for these kids and that these kids had for us. Just make sure that it
was a continuum and that if they didn't agree that you stick your [inaudible] in the case then we just
couldn't do that. But I was willing to develop some rapport with somebody that supposedly has
credentials or is smarter than us or better than us to try to keep those kids. And then when Connie pissed
me off and I'll be honest with you, she pissed me off when she basically just laid down and didn't care
enough about these kids and got me involved. Because see, I feel like I've been gypped all around. I feel
like I've been really gypped, not just by Patti Ragan because now I can't go see them kids.
INTERVIEWER:
I know.
TONIA HADDIX:
But Connie can because Connie kissed their ass. And am I mad at Connie for getting to go see them? No,
because I want her to go see them. I begged them whenever I could. They were at me and they got
restraining orders so that I couldn't go see or order from the judge that I couldn't be there when they took
the kids. I begged them. I said, "Okay, don't allow me because you know what, I was with their mom to
begin with, let Connie go to there for two weeks before when I get there so that they wake up and they
have the only mom they knew. And let her at least get them acclimated and comfortable with their new
surroundings." I begged them.
TONIA HADDIX:
I was willing to pay for her air fair and her hotel. I had to be the big star in the situation because I never
once thought these chimps were mine. I still don't even think Tonka is mine. I feel like he belongs to both
of us. So anything, something changes or happens, I'm the first one to notify her. I always get her a choice
or opportunity just like I give her opportunity to come spend time with them. If she really misses them, to
me, I would drive the hour and a half or two hours and come see him.
INTERVIEWER:
Do you think if she came down... I mean, are they still.. I know PETA they got the investigators, are
drones still flying over?
TONIA HADDIX:
No. And I'll be honest with you. She came down here that day before Easter and we did this party and
stuff. And I'll be honest with you the first day even though he was happy to see Connie, but he was
[inaudible] because he thought they were going to take him. And he started displaying and was being ugly
at first. And then I had to get him to calm down and get him to be what I know he is and not do that crap
because there's no reason for it. But once he realized Connie wasn't going to take him the, next day he
was magnificent.
INTERVIEWER:
He was nice to it.
TONIA HADDIX:
And he didn't this way, even with Penny and Byron because he never does... My whole family can be
here. My nephew, his kids, because they were just here the other day, working on this room next door to
Tonka. So my son has a bedroom and I paid him to come down and help. And since we can't have
contractors here, you know what I mean? Because of the situation. So everybody was here and he never
once acts up, but boy, that day he was a terror. And I was like, "What the heck?" And at first I thought it
was just because Penny and Byron and that type stuff. But I was like, "Why don't he do it when other
people like my family's here?" The whole thing is he really did think they were going to come get him
and he didn't want to go.
TONIA HADDIX:
And it took me a while to figure it out because you know what, I'm no chimp expert. I don't claim I know
everything, but then the more I analyzed him with other people and stuff, I was like, okay, because I
thought it was a male thing too. Byron was here and it's another male and he was just showing his ass. But
it wasn't because again, there's other males here and he doesn't do crap. And so I was like, "There's
something underlying." And he relaxed the second day and it's because he thought they were coming to
get him and he didn't want to go.
INTERVIEWER:
No. That's-
TONIA HADDIX:
The whole thing with [inaudible] is, people don't realize he really does have a voice, his own self in here.
And if people would know that and have a primatologist or somebody that analyze him, they would see
what I'm talking about. I wish you guys could have been there that day that I went and brought him home.
We went up the night to our truck were there and he knew that transport... Even though we didn't get the
transport kicked out of the U-Haul, he knew he was going home. And because I had told him he was
before and you can just tell he knew. And what's funny about it is, and I know people think I'm nuts, but
I'm not nuts. I don't say I talk to these guys. I'm not super normal. All I'm telling you is I know the kid
knew because look, we got up early because we figured we may be there all day because we brought no
drugs to dart him.
TONIA HADDIX:
I was not going to dart him and have him drive eight hours because it was winter ish and I wasn't going to
have him down and get pneumonia because I darted him and he couldn't breathe deep because he was
sedated. And I wasn't going to kill him that way. He was coming upright, vertical, and he was going to be
full aware so that he could get long expansion because I'm not stupid. So the funny thing it is we thought
we might have hell on our hands all day trying to encourage him to come. And you know what? I swear to
God, I wish you guys could've filmed it because you guys would've been like, "What the hell?" Because
this boy and I have witnesses to this, so it's not that I'm making up good crap. The thing of it is the dude...
It took us longer to get the ratchet strap around that cage, that transporter to make sure he didn't push it in
case he did give us some problems.
TONIA HADDIX:
And he literally, all I did was put one little tiny bottle of Powerade and one bag of chips at the very back
of the cage. And he literally came in that cage within two seconds. And like I said, he would not even let
me move him over to the next cage over so that we could get the door off. Because we had to manually...
Because the [inaudible] that he had, we couldn't work it because the transporter cage hindered it if we had
it bucked up against there. So we had to take it on it manually but we didn't want there to be an escape. I
was trying to encourage him to leave so they could work on it real quick. But he wasn't going to, he sat
like an indie and then had a [inaudible] and he was not leaving where that time for it came was going to
because he was coming home.
INTERVIEWER:
So you're more worried about his health and this time with him than Alan Cummings reward or PETA's
reward.
TONIA HADDIX:
Yeah. You know why, because I get heightened... You have to learn me once I see stuff then I can't sleep
at night and I stew and I worry and I worry and I worry and I'm the first to react. And then after I get that
energy off, then I think rationally and then I'm like, "Okay, you know what? Yeah, that was bad." And
that was really bad because it went viral. It went to the UK news articles and people were contacting Jerry
even to try to get to me into the situation.
INTERVIEWER:
Right. Because once Alan's thing came out because he's an actor and he's got that statute, that rubbed
everything up.
TONIA HADDIX:
It did.
INTERVIEWER:
Because people contacted me about it. They were like, "Do you see Alan Cummings and the chimp?"
TONIA HADDIX:
And you were like, "Huh. If you only knew. So how are you doing?"