Missouri Primate Foundation bred chimpanzees and farmed them out for movies and commercial purposes has now been barred from breeding or owning any new ones.
ROBERT PATRICK: A chimpanzee facility near Festus has agreed to give up four of its primates in a deal to settle four-year-old claims that the animals were being held in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Three remaining chimps will be heading to southeast Missouri. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry on Tuesday entered a final judgment in a case that involved the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the chimps’ owner and Connie Braun Casey of the Missouri Primate Foundation, which is the facility near Festus. The foundation, which once bred the animals and farmed them out for movies and commercial purposes, has seven chimps now.
An Oct. 2 consent decree says ownership and custody of four of the chimps, Tammy, Connor, Candy and Kerry, will be transferred to the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida. That sanctuary is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the agreement says. The three other chimps, Crystal, Mikayla and Tonka, will stay with their owner, Tonia Haddix. But Haddix must construct a new “Primadome” exterior enclosure and “night house” for them that meets certain space and construction standards… Haddix is also barred from breeding the chimps or owning any new ones. SOURCE…
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