A photo of three elephants walking in a line at daybreak [[link removed]]

Dear John,

Last month, two judges on New York’s highest court, Judge Rowan D. Wilson and Judge Jenny Rivera, wrote courageous dissents in our elephant client Happy’s case that link “our country’s tortured history of oppression and subjugation” of humans based on immutable characteristics such as race, gender, culture, national origin, and citizenship to the suffering and rightlessness of nonhuman animals. In so doing, Judge Wilson and Judge Rivera have not only challenged an unjust legal status quo that has existed for centuries; they’re also helping to light the way to a more just future for members of other species—just as courageous dissents by judges have done for humans throughout US legal history.⁣
⁣
For the last several weeks, the NhRP legal team has been analyzing every line in the decision and the dissents in Happy’s case to determine not only how best to confront the majority’s terrible reasoning, including its view of legal personhood as requiring both rights and duties when applied to nonhuman animals, but also how best to use the dissents going forward, particularly their rightfully harsh criticisms of the majority decision. Visit our blog [[link removed]] to read NhRP Staff Attorney Jake Davis ’ s detailed summary of the dissents and learn more about why dissents are so important.

[[link removed]]

In sharp contrast, the majority of the court declined to do what morality and the law demand and recognize Happy’s right to liberty. It’s now almost certain that a more just future for Happy will come about only if the Bronx Zoo, as a result of public pressure, chooses do to the right thing—release Happy and Patty to sanctuaries and close its elephant exhibit for good, as it once pledged to do. You can help right now by continuing to spread the word and taking action via freehappynow.com [[link removed]] .⁣
⁣
Stay tuned for announcements about our next steps, including in our ongoing grassroots campaign to #FreeHappy, and further analysis of the majority decision.

In other NhRP news:

*
This
summer
the
Commerford
Zoo—a
traveling
circus
based
in
Goshen,
Connecticut
that
continues
to
imprison
Minnie
[[link removed]]
the
elephant
alone
on
their
tiny
farm—resumed
exhibiting
at
fairs
across
the
northeastern
United
States.
We’ve
been
closely
monitoring
the
zoo
at
each
venue,
keeping
an
eye
out
for
Minnie
(who
hasn’t
been
seen
in
public
for
over
three
years)
and
any
possible
violations
of
federal
and
state
laws.
We
know
Minnie
is
still
alive
and
imprisoned
at
the
Commerford
Zoo
because
the
USDA
recently
inspected
their
property
and
noted
her
presence.


You
can
help
Minnie
by
sending
an
email
to
these
fairs,
asking
them
not
to
allow
the
Commerford
Zoo
to
exhibit
animals
at
their
event.
Speaking
out
to
the
fairs,
which
in
turn
puts
pressure
on
the
Commerford
Zoo
to
do
the
right
thing
and
release
Minnie,
is
an
important
way
you
can
continue
to
advocate
for
Minnie
since
the
court
system
[[link removed]]
as
well
as
local,
state
[[link removed]]
,
and
federal
government
[[link removed]]
entities
have
failed
to
protect
and
free
her.
For
a
sample
email
and
contact
info
for
the
fairs,
see
this
blog
post
[[link removed]]
by
NhRP
Director
of
Government
Relations
and
Campaigns
Courtney
Fern.

*
On
Monday,
we
have
a
hearing
in
our
case
to
#FreeTheFresnoElephants,
whose
life
stories
[[link removed]]
are
a
sad
reminder
of
how
US
zoos
continue
to
import
elephants,
misleading
the
public
into
thinking
captivity
in
zoos
is
for
the
elephants’
own
good.
We’ll
argue
the
case
should
remain
in
San
Francisco;
the
Fresno
Chaffee
Zoo
will
argue
the
case
should
be
transferred
to
Fresno.
We
hope
you’re
as
excited
as
we
are
that
their
case,
and
our
nonhuman
rights
work
on
the
West
Coast,
are
now
underway.
Visit
freethefresnoelephants.com
[[link removed]]
to
learn
more
about
Amahle,
Nowalzi,
and
Vusmusi
and
how
you
can
help,
and
RSVP
here
[[link removed]]
for
our
new
Interview
Series
with
experts
involved
in
their
case.

*
“So
much
of
our
connection
to
animals
starts,
and
ends,
with
us:
We
admire
elephants,
so
we
put
Happy
in
a
zoo;
we
pollute
an
animal’s
environment,
so
we
have
to
save
them;
we
are
curious
about
how
they
compare
to
humans,
so
we
study
them;
we
want
to
eat
them,
so
we
farm
them,
even
while
we
claim
to
love
them.”
In
a
moving
essay
in
The
Globe
and
Mail
,
Erin
Anderssen⁣
reflects
on
how
we
humans,
“languishing
so
pridefully
on
our
animal
kingdom
throne,”
view
and
treat
other
animals,
with
a
focus
on
the
octopus.
It’s
one
of
many
recent
pieces
that
incorporate
Happy’s
case,
and
the
above-mentioned
dissents,
into
arguments
that
we
must
radically
change
our
relationship
to
members
of
other
species
and
that
we
fail
to
do
so
at
our
own
peril.
Read
Anderssen’s
essay
here
[[link removed]]
.

Thank you for being here and for being a voice for our clients, John!

Lauren Choplin
Communications Director, the NhRP

DONATE NOW » [[link removed]]


The Nonhuman Rights Project
5195 NW 112th Terrace
Coral Springs, FL 33076
United States
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