A yearslong legal attempt to get Happy, an elephant residing at the Bronx Zoo, transferred to an elephant sanctuary failed Tuesday when New York's highest court rejected a petition from the Nonhuman Rights Project.
An elephant named Happy is pictured in the Bronx Zoo, in New York City, in this undated social media photo.A yearslong legal attempt to get Happy, an elephant residing at the Bronx Zoo,failed Tuesday when New York's highest court rejected a petition from the Nonhuman Rights Project.
The group filed a writ of habeas corpus on Happy's behalf, suggesting a legal instrument that has safeguarded the liberty of humans, by providing a means to secure release from illegal custody, should also apply to an elephant.MORE: Siding with Bronx Zoo, judge rules Happy the elephant is not a person
"Because the writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a nonhuman animal who is not a 'person' subjected to illegal detention," the decision said.
The Nonhuman Rights Project first filed a writ of habeas corpus arguing for Happy’s legal personhood and seeking her release from the zoo in 2018. A New York City judge
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