Our founder Steven M. Wise thought, spoke, read, and wrote a lot about history, about past struggles against injustice and how they continue into the present. He was also laser-focused on what the present moment required from the NhRP: for example, the latest obstacle we needed to take on, or the next person we needed to connect with to keep building support.
Because of Steve, the NhRP’s work is both highly pragmatic and deeply rooted in the history and ideals of social justice. We’ve known from the beginning that the fight for true legal rights for nonhuman animals would be long and difficult. We’ve also known from the beginning that with a rigorous strategy, it’s only a matter of time (and persistence) before nonhuman rights become law. From this knowledge comes the hope for the future that defines our team and the work we do every day.
The NhRP began implementing Steve’s strategy a little more than a decade after the publication of his revolutionary book Rattling the Cage: Towards Legal Rights for Animals. In it, he wrote that it was time for “judges [to] consider that as the ancient foundations [supporting nonhuman animals’ rightlessness] have begun to rot away, so the law of animals that rests upon them should be changed.” Since 2013, more than 40 judges in six states have considered the NhRP’s arguments for recognizing the right to bodily liberty of chimpanzees and elephants. These include judges on New York’s highest court, three of whom wrote historic, groundbreaking opinions in support of changing the unjust legal status quo for nonhuman animals. One of these judges, who’d twice had the opportunity to consider our arguments, wrote explicitly that we’d changed his mind.
Legislatively, we helped develop and pass the first animal rights ordinance in the US in 2023, just a few short years after we expanded our work to include legislation.
As social justice movements before us ultimately did, we’re making steady progress because of how confident we are in what our clients are entitled to and our unshakable commitment to fighting for it. Formidable challenges remain, but we believe a future where nonhuman animals’ legal rights are recognized is now visible on the horizon.
Thank you for stepping into this future with us and sharing our hope. If you can, please donate this week to help us to prepare for the battles ahead.
