Dear John,

Today—#HumanRightsDay—we celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948 to acknowledge the importance of respect for the freedom, equality, and dignity of every individual regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.

It’s also International #AnimalRightsDay—likewise observed on Dec. 10th to emphasize the need to extend these values and principles of justice to members of other species.

As exemplified by the UDHR, human beings have developed a set of near universal values and principles intended to protect our most fundamental interests. The work to uphold these values and principles, and protect these interests, is and must be ongoing, as justice remains a repeatedly broken promise for many human beings.

At the same time, we must recognize that we share the planet with other beings with similar fundamental interests. There’s no rational reason not to legally protect their freedom, equality, and dignity. As long as we fail to do so, we not only perpetuate grievous wrongs against nonhuman animals like our elephant client Happy; we also weaken the values and principles on which our own human rights depend.

Thank you, today and every day, for joining the NhRP in demanding that our courts, legislatures, and other institutions refuse to allow respect for freedom, equality, and dignity to arbitrarily and irrationally end with human beings. That’s the world we want to live in and, with your support, are working steadily to build. 

Take care, and happy holidays!

Lauren Choplin
Communications Director, the NhRP