Orangutan recognised as a 'non-human person', to be freed from Zoo as a result

An Argentinian court has ruled that Sandra, an orangutan currently residing in Buenos Aires Zoo, it to be transferred to a sanctuary in Brazil after being formally recognised as a 'non-human person' deprived of its freedom. The zoo now has ten working days to appeal the decision.

I personally think that this is a great development, especially in terms of acquiring rights for animals which are similar to ourselves. While i do not object to the owning of animals, or keeping some in enclosures (it depends on the situation), i do look at great apes and think that they do deserve some autonomy considering they share many of the same characteristics as us. I see this as a good development. Hopefully it leads to many similar results elsewhere.

www.independent.co.uk...

a reply to: daaskapital

I don't feel threatened by this at all.

Queue the dominionist memes and their story books.

a reply to: daaskapital

i read this story yesterday.
im still trying to wrap my head around the term non human person

i always thought by definition, a person was human

guess not

This opens the way not only for other Great Apes, but also for other sentient beings which are unfairly and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in zoos, circuses, water parks and scientific laboratories,

A court in the US this month threw out a similar case campaigning for the freedom of Tommy the chimpanzee, who was held by a private owner in New York. The state ruled that the chimp is not a “person” that is entitled to the rights and protections afforded by habeas corpus.

i dont really see how habeas corpus applies to an animal though

how much different is the sanctuary going to be from the zoo i wonder.
sandra was born in captivity 29 years ago. at a sanctuary dont they have to behave more like in thre wild? finding food for example instead of having it given to them?
that might be a problem for her

a reply to: Grovit

It seems that the legal definition is one of those more murky ones which could be argued in many directions. Some will argue that great apes, other than ourselves, are not people. Others will argue that they are. Hell, if corporations can be legally classified as persons, why can't gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and organgutans share the same benefits? The way i see it is that we're all animals. Why should we treat other animals, let alone our fellow great apes, as pets or objects? I mean, they share much the same characteristics as us, and they should be treated rather fairly as a result.

How can we continue calling ourselves an ethical species, claiming that our moral sense is what separates ourselves from other creatures, when we treat life on this planet the way we do the way we do?

Human beings are every bit as animal as any ape or any other creature. This hilarious idea that we are somehow separate or 'higher' than the other creatures is one of our biggest failings. Cue more spiritual BS threads about the 'truth' about human nature.

originally posted by: Calalini

This hilarious idea that we are somehow separate or 'higher' than the other creatures is one of our biggest failings. Cue more spiritual BS threads about the 'truth' about human nature.

we are higher.
we dont pick fleas out of other people hair and eat the while flinging our turds around(unless we're crazy) for example.

there is a separation there. if you cant see it you have a problem.

a reply to: daaskapital

I agree, but where should we draw the line?

I mean, is it fair that we only really care for the species we can have empathy for?

Should we start treating spiders more fairly? Should they have rights too?

a reply to: Grovit

That's your opinion, for all we know apes consider themselves higher than humans because we don't throw feces around.

They are just as conscious as we are, and should be treated with their feelings in mind.

a reply to: Grovit

Not only for Chimps, but Dolphins as well.

India recently declared dolphins as non human persons.

This organization is at the forefront of such talks and initiatives.

~Tenth

There is an existing thread on this same topic in the FragileEarth forum:
Sandra the Orangutan Granted Freedom with Limited Human Rights Ruling.

Please continue the discussion there. Thank you.

Thread closed.