On June 14th the New York State Supreme Court denied an appeal by the Nonhuman Rights Project to grant haebus corpus with respect to a 43-year old elephant in the Bronx Zoo. 

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, who wrote the majority opinion, stated “Because the writ of haebus corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a non-human animal who is not a person subject to legal detention.” The court affirmed “nonhuman animals are not or never have been considered persons with a right or liberty under New York law.

The important point derived from the ruling is that “granting legal personhood to animals would have significant implications in all facets of life including disruption of property rights, the agricultural industry, and medical research efforts.”  Determining that animals have equal legal status to humans would “call into question the very premises underlying pet ownership, the use of service animals, and the enlistment of animals in other forms of work.”

The American Veterinary Medical Association, the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, and the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges filed a joint amicus curiae brief supporting the ruling of the court.

Previously, the Nonhuman Rights Project has attempted to have primates released under haebus corpus without success.  Granting personhood to any animal would represent a slippery slope with the intention of eliminating all forms of livestock agriculture.