Dear John,

Good news! We’ve learned the First Judicial Department has scheduled oral arguments in our appeal in Happy’s case for Nov. 19th after 2 p.m. ET (ultimately it will be up to the court to decide when and for how long we argue). The arguments will take place virtually, and the court will livestream and archive the proceedings as it does for all other cases. Stay tuned for details! 

Looking ahead to these arguments, legal commentator David Allen Green explores our elephant rights case on behalf of Happy in his latest column for the respected international daily newspaper the Financial Times, favorably concluding that “ascribing legal personality [i.e. the capacity for legal rights] to animals may be an idea whose time has come.” Green further considers nonhuman animal personhood and rights in this Twitter thread. 

In case you missed it, Tortoise—a media site committed to deep dives behind the headlines—has just released a new three-part podcast series about Happy and our fight for her freedom. Learn more about it here.

Media coverage that challenges the status quo of nonhuman animals’ rightlessness is important because it helps people envision a more just way forward and change the conversation about what members of other species deserve under the law. Please share widely!

Click here to share this email as a blog post.

Lauren Choplin
Communications Director, the NhRP