Updates on Legal Rights for Nonhuman Animals
Since the Nonhuman Rights Project filed its first series of lawsuits in December, there have been several other initiatives to secure legal rights for nonhuman animals.…
-
Westminster Porn Show
One of the world's few remaining pageants of objectification and commoditization.
-
The ‘Animal Rights’ Paradox
How's the animal rights movement doing? If you rate it by the simple question "How many animals have rights?" you'd have to say "Not very well." Call it the animal rights paradox.
-
At Sundance, a Triumph for "Unlocking the Cage"
Premiered at Sundance, the movie follows attorney Steven M. Wise as he argues to a high court judges that chimpanzee Tommy has the capacity for legal rights and should be set free…
-
Pigs: Smart & Machiavellian
Winston Churchill famously said: “A dog looks up to you; a cat looks down on you; only a pig treats you as an equal.” But that, of course, is hardly how we treat them…
-
Half the World’s Wildlife Destroyed in the Last 40 Years
In a sane world, it would be headline news. Everything else would immediately come to a screeching halt to make way for a massive, worldwide attempt to turn things around. (Of…
The Whale Who Took Down SeaWorld
Egg Industry Concession Is No ‘Victory’
For Chimps, the End of Vivisection, Almost
Cecil Is the Least of It
The Swan and the Grail
In one of the legends of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, an orphan teenage boy, Percival, stumbles into the woods surrounding the castle at Camelot, sees a swan flying over the trees, and shoots her down with his bow and arrow.
Brought before the outraged knights, Percival is told that in this forest all life is sacred. Mortified, he breaks his bow, throws it away, and sets out on his famous quest for the Holy Grail, a mythic cup or stone that will bring renewal and hope to the dying king of Camelot, to a land that’s become ravaged by famine, and to a people who have lost their way.
What shall we say of the decision by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation, which is planning to license the killing, by shooting, gassing and beheading, of the state’s entire population of 2,200 mute swans?
Of Marius, Zoos and Prince William
Bengt Holst is bewildered. He can’t figure out why everyone is so upset about his zoo knocking off Marius the giraffe. Holst is the science director…
The Two Arguments of the Taiji Hunters
Where the dolphins are shipped after they’re captured at Taiji The latest dolphin drive hunt at Taiji is now “over”. Over, that is, for the dolphins…
Apologies to the Rhino Hunter
How could I not have realized that Corey Knowlton is risking life and limb to save the rhinos of southern Africa?
The New Conversation about Persons
When the Nonhuman Rights Project filed its first three lawsuits earlier this month, inviting judges in New York State to recognize four captive chimpanzees as “legal…
Chimpanzee Personhood: What the Media Said
As soon as we started filing our first three lawsuits last week, we were deluged with media interest from around the world. Here are just a…
Chimpanzee Personhood: What the Judges Said
It’s a little unusual for a judge to wish you good luck as you head off to appeal his decision. But that’s exactly what happened when…
First-Ever Lawsuit Filed for Chimpanzee Seeking Legal Personhood
This morning, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) filed suit in Fulton County Court in the state of New York on behalf of Tommy, a chimpanzee, who…
Comparisons with Concentration Camps
Last week, shocked by the latest disturbing video from Mercy for Animals about life and death for pigs at factory farms, Andrew Sullivan wrote a post…
‘The End of Antibiotics – Period.’
For a long time, there have been newspaper stories and covers of magazines that talked about “The end of antibiotics? (question mark)” Well, now I would…
Blackfish, CNN and SeaWorld’s Silence
If you haven’t seen Blackfish yet, be sure to watch it on CNN tomorrow evening. The movie by Gabriella Cowperthwaite uncovers much of what SeaWorld has…
Nonhuman Persons and The Slippery Slope
More about Gregory Berns’ article “Dogs Are People, Too“, which I wrote about earlier this week. Berns has been getting quite a lot of pushback from…
Rescuing Foggy the Humpback Whale
Foggy and Grommet are well known to whale-watching boats off the coast of Nova Scotia. The two humpback whales are rarely seen apart from each other.…
Navy Dolphins Scout for Mines in Croatia
Last week, six dolphins took off from their HQ at the U.S. Navy’s Marine Mammal Program in San Diego on a flight to Zagreb, Croatia. Their…
Shamu’s Exercise Machine
SeaWorld is planning to install exercise machines for the orcas it holds captive at its marine circuses.
Orcas like Tilikum, SeaWorld’s biggest killer whale, who has killed three people and now spends most of his time languishing motionless in a small tank, could get some longer-distance swimming time.
Should we give SeaWorld a thumbs-up for this?
Surfing with Dolphins
This is what happens when a good photographer, a surfer and some dolphins all happen to meet up at the same time. The place was Kalbarri,…
Miss PoPsicle and the War in Syria
Miss PoPsicle has been following the news from Syria. (Well, sort of.) She certainly knows what it’s like to be caught up as collateral damage in…
Want to Sell a Book about Dolphins? Call Them Dumb!
(Sept. 12, 2013: Note: Justin Gregg has responded to this post, saying that he was seriously misquoted in the London Sunday Times article we reference below. So…
Why ‘Experts’ Get So Confused about Legal Rights for Nonhumans
Is their confusion perhaps deliberate? An article in The Week asks: “Should Apes Have Legal Rights?” As the Nonhuman Rights Project prepares to file its first…