Dear John,

With the end of the year soon approaching, the NhRP reflects on why we fight for nonhuman rights year after year.

We fight for captive elephants like Happy and Minnie because, just like us, they have a sense of self, remember the past, plan for the future, show empathy, and mourn their dead, among other qualities and capacities.

We fight for captive great apes like Tommy and Kiko because they deserve to live freely and regain their autonomy, peace, and dignity.

We fight for nonhuman rights because we share this earth with other beings with fundamental interests not dissimilar to our own. Autonomy, equality, and dignity should not be exclusive to humans, and recognition of nonhuman rights will strengthen the values and principles on which our own human rights depend.

We fight for nonhuman rights because more and more people every day—including judges—see how nonhuman beings suffer as legal “things” with no rights and join us in calling for fundamental change to their legal status.

We thank you for standing alongside the NhRP this year and in years past in demanding that our legal systems and human institutions give back to nonhumans what we have unjustly taken from them. It’s because of supporters like you who understand the importance of nonhuman rights and why we continue to fight for them every year that we are able to press on even in the most challenging of times. Together we’ve already made legal history for nonhuman animals—with much more to come in 2022.

Please donate what you can to help the NhRP—the only organization in the US dedicated solely to securing rights for nonhuman animals—continue to fight for meaningful, lasting legal change for members of other species.

With gratitude,
Mickey Suzuki
Development Director, the NhRP