The court’s ruling means Happy—a 51-year-old Asian elephant at the Bronx Zoo—is not entitled to the fundamental right of bodily liberty, or freedom from imprisonment
Happy, a 51-year-old Asian elephant at the Bronx Zoo, is not a “person,” New York’s highest court, bringing to a close a case that forced the courts and the public to reflect on what rights human society owes highly intelligent animals. The court’s 5-2 ruling on June 14 means Happy is not entitled to the fundamental right of bodily liberty, or freedom from imprisonment.
Personhood is a legal designation that indicates an entity has the capacity for rights or responsibilities. Corporations, bodies of water, and other animals in countries around the world have been recognized as persons. In the U.S., no specific designation exists for nonhuman animals. In the U.S., animals are things.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Rowan Wilson disputed the notion that habeas corpus applies only to humans, arguing that the writ was “vigorously used to challenge the detention of slaves when, under law, they were deemed chattel.”
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