Dear John,

For some people, it’s understandably their worst nightmare. 

You find yourself confined in a strange, empty space, everyone and everything you know gone.

No way out, your existence shrunken down to a point.

You know that if you don’t leave, one day, even just standing up will hurt, and the memory of the rich, full life you once had will fade—but never completely, of course.

For captive nonhuman animals, this nightmare is their lived reality.

But there is a way out.

The legal right to liberty is the key that will unlock for good the cages of nonhuman animals who need and want to live freely just as we do.

If you can, please donate to the Nonhuman Rights Project today to help us #FreeTheFresnoElephants, who are trapped in a zoo that has been named one of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants in North America. Now that the Fresno Chaffee Zoo has brought in another male elephant—perhaps the most exploited elephant in the US zoo system—to be used for breeding, the elephants’ case and campaign are more urgent than ever.

With your continued support, we can not only shine a light on how these magnificent beings are still torn from their natural habitats and imported to zoos, forced to breed, separated from their babies, and moved from zoo to zoo to meet zoos’ needs, not the needs of elephants. We can also end these practices for good.

Elephants suffer when deprived of their freedom. It’s that simple. A more just life is possible for the Fresno elephants, which is why we’re demanding recognition of their right to liberty under California law and their release to an accredited elephant sanctuary where their nightmare can end.

We rely on donations from generous people like you to fight in courts, legislatures, and beyond for nonhuman animals who can’t fight for themselves. We’ve already broken through the thick legal wall that has unjustly separated human and nonhuman animals for thousands of years. But there’s so much more work that needs to be done. 

A year-end gift to the Nonhuman Rights Project will allow us to continue and strengthen our fight to #FreeTheFresnoElephants in 2023 and ultimately change the world for all elephants, nearly 20,000 of whom are still held captive worldwide.

With appreciation for your support,

Courtney Fern
Director of Government Relations, the NhRP