Teh One Who Knocks
10-08-2014, 11:44 AM
Robin de Peyer - London Evening Standard
http://i.imgur.com/lnRgRlX.jpg
A chimpanzee could be granted rights previously reserved for humans in a landmark legal hearing in the US this week.
Tommy the chimp may be entitled to "legal personhood" according to animal rights lawyer Steven Wise who is seeking to extend rights historically reserved for humans to other intelligent animals.
The 26-year-old animal currently lives in a "dark, dank shed" in upstate New York. Mr Wise is seeking a ruling that Tommy has been unlawfully imprisoned and should be released to a santuary.
He claims a victory in the case could lead to other animals - including dolphins and elephants - being given rights previously reserved for humans.
"The next argument could be that Tommy ... also has the right to bodily integrity, so he couldn't be used in biomedical research," said Mr Wise, from Boston.
Tommy's owner, Patrick Lavery, has insisted that the "shed" in which Mr Wise says he is kept is in fact a state-of-the-art $150,000 facility and has spent three years on a waiting list for a place in a sanctuary. He has made the unusual move of waiving his right to submit a legal argument in the case.
The appeals court in Albany, New York state, will hear the case from Wednesday.
It comes after US Circuit judge Richard Posner and New York University law professor Richard Epstein led criticism of the bid to secure legal rights for animals.
They say courts would be inundated with complex legal cases which could spawn contradictory rulings.
http://i.imgur.com/lnRgRlX.jpg
A chimpanzee could be granted rights previously reserved for humans in a landmark legal hearing in the US this week.
Tommy the chimp may be entitled to "legal personhood" according to animal rights lawyer Steven Wise who is seeking to extend rights historically reserved for humans to other intelligent animals.
The 26-year-old animal currently lives in a "dark, dank shed" in upstate New York. Mr Wise is seeking a ruling that Tommy has been unlawfully imprisoned and should be released to a santuary.
He claims a victory in the case could lead to other animals - including dolphins and elephants - being given rights previously reserved for humans.
"The next argument could be that Tommy ... also has the right to bodily integrity, so he couldn't be used in biomedical research," said Mr Wise, from Boston.
Tommy's owner, Patrick Lavery, has insisted that the "shed" in which Mr Wise says he is kept is in fact a state-of-the-art $150,000 facility and has spent three years on a waiting list for a place in a sanctuary. He has made the unusual move of waiving his right to submit a legal argument in the case.
The appeals court in Albany, New York state, will hear the case from Wednesday.
It comes after US Circuit judge Richard Posner and New York University law professor Richard Epstein led criticism of the bid to secure legal rights for animals.
They say courts would be inundated with complex legal cases which could spawn contradictory rulings.