Chimp Personhood: There are steps taken to protect animals that go as far as crossing the limits and protecting them as if they were humans. What would happen if an animal is not protected like a human, but is considered a human?
There is a group called the Nonhuman Rights Project and one of its representatives, attorney Steven Wise, has brought to the courts of New York the case of Tommy yesterday.
Tommy is a chimpanzee who is kept in a warehouse in Gloversville alone, in New York. Steven Wise wants Tommy to have the same rights as a person, to be entitled not of all the rights but at least have the right not to be imprisoned against his will.
Steven Wise has said about it, "Chimpanzees are autonomous, self-determining beings. Why shouldn't they be legal persons? How is it that we can ignore the autonomy of a nonhuman, while making (autonomy) to be a supreme value of human beings?" as it was noted by Wired.
The case of the chimp personhood is not brought to court by Steven Wise for the first time. Already in December of 2013, he did it for Tommy once again and for another chimpanzee called Kiko in Niagara Falls.
He was permitted to do an appeal yesterday, October 8th and he claimed that Tommy was a cognitive and complex being, and the equivalent of a child. What he stated once and over again was the fact that the main right he wanted Tommy to have was not to be imprisoned.
He asked for the chimp to be recognized of personhood so that he can be moved to Florida to a sanctuary called Save The Chimps that has artificial lakes, and is the most 'nature' looking place in North America, as Tommy has been born in captivity and wouldn't survive in the actual wild.
The case has not been dismissed and more will be heard in the future about the chimp's personhood condition. It is a difficult step to be accepted, though, as opening the doors for chimpanzees to be persons would be opening the doors to other animals as well, and it's a huge matter to consider which brings a lot of arguments and discussions.
