Dear John,
My name is Margaret Hope. I’m an NhRP supporter who lives in Colorado.
This year I decided to become a monthly donor to the NhRP because I keep seeing injustice after injustice inflicted upon nonhuman animals–called “things” or “property” under the law just because, in my view, so many humans can’t speak with nonhuman animals in human language but nonetheless expect a human-language response (and will deny the animals’ suffering if they don’t provide one). I see the NhRP’s work as a solution to this injustice.
Elephants like the NhRP’s client Happy–ripped from their homes and shipped to zoos, kept in solitary confinement, and imprisoned in exhibits that are way too small–are in mental anguish. Elephants are extremely social beings and NEED to be with their herd. The NhRP is dedicated to protecting this need through recognition of elephants’ right to liberty.
Even closer to home for me, the NhRP fought to have five wild-born female elephants–Jambo, Kimba, LouLou, Lucky, and Missy–released from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to a sanctuary where they could again have their freedom. The zoo’s response to the NhRP’s lawsuit was scathing, appalling, and disgraceful. It showed me that the ignorance and greed of those in charge far outweigh any thinly veiled attempt at caring. The zoo highlighted the amount of money “raised for conservation” from admission fees to see the elephants. How does that help the poor elephants who are still caged and never have a chance to BE ELEPHANTS???
Animals across the US are all considered nothing more than property. I’m thinking especially of factory farmed animals who live in horrific conditions until they’re killed. Horses who are auctioned off to kill-buyers and shipped thousands of miles to be butchered by countries that allow consumption of horsemeat. Dogs who are beaten because the person whose property they’re considered gets angry at them for simply being dogs. The list goes on and on of the horrors animals face. All of these tragedies COULD be avoided if animals had rights.
Especially in these troubled times, money is scarce. But if everyone donated just a little bit, the amount would add up quickly. As I shared with the NhRP back in February when I decided to become a monthly donor, I am SO sick of animals being treated like dirt, having to exist in unbearable conditions, and having no legal voice to help them. The NhRP is working to give them that voice. Please join me today in donating to the NhRP if you can. Right now, your donation will go twice as far because every donation is being matched up to $10,000.
