Dear John,
Last night, a California city made legal history for nonhuman animals.
As the NhRP’s Director of Government Relations, I was thrilled and proud to be in attendance in Ojai, California, as the Ojai City Council became the first legislative body in the country to pass legislation that defines and protects the legal right of a nonhuman animal–specifically, elephants’ right to liberty.
Introduced by Council Member Leslie Rule and developed with the assistance of the NhRP, the ordinance expressly recognizes that elephants possess the right to liberty, prohibits anyone from preventing elephants from exercising their right to liberty, and details how the law will be enforced and the penalty for violating it.
The enactment of this ordinance is a huge milestone in the nonhuman animal rights movement, and we cannot overstate its importance.
In the early 1980s, an elephant was held in captivity in Ojai Valley and used for entertainment, including in an act where she was made to rollerskate. From this point on, no elephant will ever be deprived of her freedom and exploited within Ojai city limits. Ojai is also leading the way for other cities to right the wrong of elephant imprisonment and sending an important message that elephants are not rightless things to be exploited for profit, but rights-holders who deserve to live with dignity and respect. This ordinance is the first of many to come, and we look forward to making nonhuman animal rights a legal reality in as many cities as possible as quickly as possible.
Nonhuman animals urgently need us to go beyond weak, poorly enforced animal welfare laws. That’s why we’ve spent the last decade fighting to recognize and protect their legal rights, reaching one milestone after another in our pursuit of legal change. This ordinance is a huge sign of the progress we’re steadily achieving. Will you donate today to pass more groundbreaking animal rights laws and protect nonhuman animals from injustice?
