“We’re simply saying [to judges] that the world is changing outside of your courtroom, and you may want to change with it.” – NhRP President Steven M. Wise

Dear John,

Seventy-one years ago today, the United Nations ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to affirm the importance of respect for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all individuals regardless of “race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.” The fight for nonhuman animal rights is rooted in the same values and principles of justice as human rights, which is why December 10th is rightly celebrated around the world not just as Human Rights Day, but also, as of 2011, Animal Rights Day. 

Now more than ever, it’s important that we neither take for granted our own human rights nor allow rights to arbitrarily stop with members of our own species. A more just world for all is possible, and the fight for nonhuman rights must and will be a fundamental part of how we build it. 

In the words of our new staff attorney Amy Kapoor (welcome, Amy!):

The artificial line that society has drawn between human and nonhuman animals is but another legal barrier that must be broken. Recognizing the rights of nonhuman animals, beginning with great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales’ fundamental right to live freely, will only reinforce and elevate our fundamental values of liberty, justice, equality, and fairness. I feel privileged to be able to work on such a groundbreaking issue with such dedicated people. Although the battle will be arduous, as Nelson Mandela poignantly stated, “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

Before joining the NhRP, Amy was a senior associate attorney at Johnson & Klein, LLC, where her practice focused on civil rights and criminal defense. She has also worked at Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP, a civil rights firm that litigates police brutality and prisoners’ rights, and served as a Trial Attorney at the Federal Defenders of San Diego, where she represented numerous criminal defendants in federal jury trials. Perhaps needless to say, we’re thrilled to have Amy on our team and look forward to further introducing her to you in the months ahead! 

In other NhRP news:

• As the NhRP legal team prepares to again argue in the Bronx Supreme Court for the release of our elephant client Happy from solitary confinement in the Bronx Zoo, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the anonymous donor who recently made a gift of $20,000 to assist with Happy’s elephant rights case. Learn more here.
• Last month on Facebook Live, NhRP Director of Government Relations and Campaigns Courtney Fern discussed our ongoing work to free Minnie—the sole surviving Commerford Zoo elephant—to a sanctuary and compel the relevant authorities to investigate Beulah and Karen’s deaths. Learn more here, and read the latest on our legal fight in the Connecticut Law Tribune.  
• Have a Netflix subscription? Our elephant rights case on behalf of Happy—the first elephant in the world to demonstrate self-awareness via the mirror self-recognition test—is cited in the “Animal Intelligence” episode of the second season of Explained. Watch the trailer here.

Have a great week and we’ll be in touch again soon with further updates!

Lauren Choplin
Communications Director, the NhRP