Dear John,

As you might have seen, a video published on Tuesday is circulating on social media showing Wayne LaPierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, murdering a free elephant. The Washington Post describes the video in this article (warning: the article itself doesn’t contain the video but it does link out to it). 

The Nonhuman Rights Project is repulsed but not surprised by this killing. The toxic belief that human beings are superior to and entitled to do whatever they want to elephants and other nonhuman beings—whether killing them in cold blood or inflicting on them the slow death of imprisonment—is exactly why we fight for their rights.

If you’re on Twitter, please like and share our tweet to help raise awareness not only of how elephants suffer and die all over the world but also why they deserve and urgently need basic legal rights.

If you’re not on Twitter, we also suggest submitting a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, sharing your thoughts on the story and mentioning your support for the NhRP and the fight for recognition of elephants’ rights.

Like us, elephants have a sense of self, remember the past, plan for the future, show empathy for other beings (not just other elephants), and mourn their dead, among other qualities and capacities. Like us, they want to be free and to live. Please donate today to help us fight for meaningful, lasting legal change to protect them. 

With gratitude,
Mickey Suzuki
Development Director, the NhRP