Today, fifty years after the first #EarthDay, we’d like to thank you for helping us build a more just world for all.
A world in which we refuse to allow fear—fear of “the other,” fear of the loss of the status quo, fear of change and uncertainty—sway how we treat other beings and make public policy.
A world in which we make decisions at all levels based on science, justice, and the interconnectedness of all life on earth.
A world in which we no longer irrationally believe that we alone among animals feel a deep, irrepressible need for freedom, community, and wild spaces or that we alone experience love and loss.
A world in which people all over the world come together to say loudly and clearly to their fellow human beings ➡️
... that just because we have the power to systematically imprison and exploit other animals—destroying the planet we share and undermining our most valued principles of justice in the process—doesn’t mean we should, for their sake and ours.
Four new amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs have been submitted in support of the Nonhuman Rights Project’s landmark habeas corpus case demanding the right to bodily liberty of an elephant named Happy held alone in captivity in the Bronx Zoo. nonhumanrights.org/blog/new-brief…
The first brief is by a group of six expert habeas corpus practitioners and scholars, including four lawyers who worked on the Central Park Jogger case.
The second is by 14 philosophers with expertise in animal ethics, animal political theory, the philosophy of animal cognition and behavior, and the philosophy of biology.
Elephants are self-aware, autonomous beings. They empathize with others, cooperate to solve problems and make decisions, have extensive long-term memories, teach and learn from each other, use tools, engage in complex communication, possess distinct cultures, grieve the deaths of
their loved ones, and want and need to live freely, just as we do. We are inspired every day by elephants’ resilience at the same time as we are outraged by the human actions that have forced them to endure and try to heal from trauma after trauma, loss after loss, for centuries.
For the NhRP, appreciating elephants means recognizing and protecting their right to live freely.
Almost 50 years ago, a baby elephant was torn from her family in the wild, exported to the US, and sold for $4K to a family from NJ. They named her Mignon, French for "cute." In 1972 her life as an elephant ended, and her life as a source of entertainment began. A thread:
The Hammonds treated, and wanted Mignon to act, like a family pet rather than an elephant. She was walked on a leash, slept on a mattress in their home, and was house trained. She wasn’t even allowed to relieve herself in a natural way—she was taught to urinate into a bucket.
In the 70s, the Hammonds were far from alone in having sought to turn a nonhuman being into a money-making experiment. For example, many know the story of Nim Chimpsky (nonhumanrights.org/blog/my-old-fr…). "Cute" while they're young, they become more difficult to control as they grow older.
After almost a lifetime in captivity, 14 years of which she has been forced to live alone, 49-year-old Happy deserves to be freed from her imprisonment at the @BronxZoo and released to @ElephantsTN or @PAWSARK2000. #FreeHappy
At the @BronxZoo, which is managed by @TheWCS, Happy is confined alone, without the necessary companionship of other elephants, in a small enclosure that contains a one-acre outdoor yard, barren corrals, and an industrial holding facility. #FreeHappy
NhRP Development Director Mickey Suzuki's path to nonhuman #animalrights advocacy started with her parents, who taught her to treat all living beings with kindness and respect. They were the ones who instilled in her a love for nonhuman animals (1/4)
especially her dad who grew up on a small farm in Japan and always told stories of caring for his family's goats, horses, and a little chick who'd follow him around while he'd do his chores. Mickey was (and still is) always in awe of how animals gravitate toward her dad; (2/4)
the running joke in their family is that he is their Dr. Dolittle.
Growing up in Australia, Mickey was always surrounded by nature and native animals, so it was important to her parents to teach her from an early age how to share their home and surrounding spaces (3/4)
When NhRP Communications Director @LaurenChoplin was in first grade, she and her two sisters pleaded with their parents to let them keep a dog they'd found on the street and brought home in a wheelbarrow. After no one claimed the dog at the shelter, their parents relented.
At first, the dog peed on the carpet and chased the cats, worrying Lauren's parents. However, with time and lots of love, Molly quickly adjusted to life in her new household.
One of Lauren's most vivid childhood memories is of crouching on the floor alone with Molly, who'd become ill, and imagining she could use her hands and tears to magically take away Molly's sickness.