In the first case of its kind, Steven Wise, a Boston-based lawyer and president of animal advocacy group the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), will present an argument that intelligent non-human animals are entitled to ‘legal personhood’, and accordingly, legal rights. NhRP is campaigning for Tommy, a 26 year-old circus performer chimpanzee, to be released from his solitary confinement and moved to live amongst other chimps at a sanctuary in Florida. Tommy currently spends his days alone confined in a shed, watching cartoons and nature programs on television. The lawsuit failed in the lower courts, but is currently on appeal, with the NhRP presenting oral arguments last week. The Tommy case is one of three cases that has been brought by the NhRP to free imprisoned chimpanzees in New York State, all of which are going through the appeals process in the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division. In a 65 page brief, NhRP cite a range of specialists arguing that chimpanzees are “autonomous, self-determined, self-aware, highly intelligent and emotionally complex beings who suffer from imprisonment”, and as such they fit the criteria for the legal profile of a “person”. The brief includes evidence from world renowned primatologists, including Voiceless Patron Dr Jane Goodall. The Tommy decision is expected in a few weeks’ time. Should Tommy win this case, it will have massive implications for primates and potentially other animals, such as elephants, orcas and dolphins who are kept in confinement. Read more here:
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 01:06:04 +0000
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