American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
She has four limbs, expressive eyes and likes to stroll through greenery in New York City. Happy, by species, is an Asian elephant. But is she also a person?
That's the question before New York's highest court Wednesday in a closely watched case over whether a basic human right can be extended to an animal.
Her advocates at the Nonhuman Rights Project say yes: Happy is an autonomous, cognitively complex elephant worthy of the right reserved in law for "a person." The Bronx Zoo, where Happy resides, says no: Through an attorney, the zoo argues Happy is neither imprisoned nor a person, but a well-cared-for elephant "respected as the magnificent creature she is."
Happy has lived at the Bronx Zoo for 45 years. The state Court of Appeals is hearing arguments over whether she should be released through a habeas corpus proceeding, which is a way for people to challenge illegal confinement.
The Nonhuman Rights Project wants her moved from a "one-acre prison" at the zoo to a more spacious sanctuary.
"She has an interest in exercising her choices and deciding who she wants to be with, and where to go, and what to do, and what to eat," project attorney Monica Miller told The Associated Press. "And the zoo is prohibiting her from making any of those choices herself."
The group said that in 2005, Happy became the first elephant to pass a self-awareness indicator test, repeatedly touching a white "X" on her forehead as she looked into a large mirror.
The zoo and its supporters warn that a win for the advocates could open the door to more legal actions on behalf of animals, including pets and other species in zoos.
"If courts follow NRP's demand to grant animals personhood for habeas corpus purposes, elephants as well as other animals at every modern zoo in this country would have to be turned loose or transferred to the facility of NRP's choosing," Kenneth Manning, an attorney for zoo operator Wildlife Conservation Society, wrote in a court filing.
Happy was born in the wild in Asia in the early 1970s, captured and bought as a 1-year-old to the United States, where she was eventually named for one of the titular characters of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Happy arrived at the Bronx Zoo in 1977 with fellow elephant Grumpy, who was fatally injured in a 2002 confrontation with two other elephants.
Happy now lives in an enclosure adjacent to the zoo's other elephant, Patty. The zoo's attorney argued in court filings that Happy can swim, forage and engage in other behavior natural for elephants.
"The blatant exploitation of Happy the elephant by NRP to advance their coordinated agenda shows no concern for the individual animal and reveals the fact they are willing to sacrifice Happy's health and psychological well-being to set precedent," the zoo said in a prepared statement.
NRP's attorneys say no matter how Happy is being treated at the zoo, her right to "bodily liberty" is being violated. They argue that if the court recognizes Happy's right to that liberty under habeas corpus, she will be a "person" for that purpose. And then she must be released.
Lower courts have ruled against the NRP. And the group has failed to prevail in similar cases, including those involving a chimpanzee in upstate New York named Tommy.
But last October, at the urging of a different animal rights group, a federal judge ruled that Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's infamous "cocaine hippos" could be recognized as people or "interested persons" with legal rights in the U.S. The decision had no real ramifications for the hippos themselves, given that they reside in Colombia.
Opponents hope the NRP's string of court losses continues with the high-profile New York court.
In a friend-of-the-court brief, the New York Farm Bureau and other agriculture groups said the NRP's "new-fangled theory of personhood" would sweep up pigs, cows and chickens. The National Association for Biomedical Research said authorizing such petitions on behalf of animals could drive up the costs of conducting critical research. State and national associations representing veterinarians filed a brief saying NRP's lawsuit promotes animals' personhood rights above animals' welfare.
Supporters of NRP's action include public figures such as Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe. Many of them see this case as a chance for society to take a step forward in the ethical treatment of animals.
"We believe this legal moment for Happy represents a key cultural crossroads for thinking more openly and honestly--and less selfishly--about what it would mean to treat the particularity of non-human animals with the moral seriousness it deserves," a brief submitted by Catholic academic theologians read.
The court's decision is expected in the coming months.
At least one animal rights advocate suggests a lone court decision won't change society's view of animal use. Rutgers Law School professor Gary Francione, who is not involved in the case, said that would require a broader cultural shift.
"I've been a vegan for 40 years. Don't get me wrong, I disagree with animal use altogether," Francione said. "Just to have the court start saying that non-human animals are persons under the law is going to raise all sorts of questions, the answers to which are not going to be amenable to many people."
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.