For centuries, the majority of humans have viewed nonhuman animals as inferior, believing that we alone have a sense of self, thoughts, and plans for the future, that we alone have a deep need for freedom, that we alone have the emotional experience of love and loss. This mentality has enabled the exploitation of nonhuman animals on a vast scale and become embedded in many of our institutions–including courts and legislatures, where nonhuman animals are considered “things” with no rights.
The founder of the Nonhuman Rights Project, lawyer Steven M. Wise, dedicated his life to bringing nonhuman animals’ legal status into the 21st century and exposing and ending the injustices they endure because they’re rightless. Before Steve passed away in February of 2024 from glioblastoma, the NhRP achieved progress even beyond Steve’s wildest expectations: securing historic legal firsts, catalyzing a global debate about nonhuman rights, and reaching billions of people with the message that our most cherished values and principles of justice–liberty, equality, and fairness–should be extended to nonhuman animals, too.
This work and this progress continue. Steve’s vision of a world where nonhuman rights are recognized alongside human rights lives on, and the NhRP remains the only organization of its kind in the world. Defying expectations of what’s considered legally possible, we’re making steady progress in combating centuries of animals’ rightlessness and creating the systemic change Steve envisioned and fought for.
Today is Steve’s birthday. This year he would have been 74 years old. Those who knew Steve know he viewed every day as a fresh opportunity to celebrate our collective progress and advocate for the cause of nonhuman rights. His birthday was no exception, which is why, every year leading up to December 19th, he created a Facebook fundraiser inviting his friends to donate to the NhRP. To it he brought the optimism and sense of purpose that characterized every aspect of his work, decades before the NhRP even existed.
Today, we’d like to celebrate Steve as we continue and amplify what he started.
Please join us in honoring Steve and the tremendous legacy he left to the animal advocacy movement. This could mean lighting a candle in his memory, posting on social media about what his work means to you, or donating to the NhRP in celebration of our inaugural Founder’s Day of Giving. Your donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, thanks to a generous $50,000 gift made in memory of Steve and our first client, Tommy.
