Happy, an Asian elephant that has lived in the Bronx Zoo for more than 40 years, will remain there after New York state's highest court ruled Tuesday that she isn't a person, in a legal sense, and therefore wasn't being illegally detained.
Why it matters: It was the first time the highest court in any English-speaking jurisdiction heard such a case brought on behalf of a nonhuman animal.
- The Nonhuman Rights Project, a nonprofit focused on animal rights, argued that the right to habeas corpus — which protects against illegal detention — should be extended to emotionally complex animals.
- The Nonhuman Rights Project argued that Happy was being illegally detained by the Bronx Zoo and ought to be transferred to an elephant sanctuary.
The big picture: In a 5-2 decision, the New York Court of Appeals rejected the Nonhuman Rights Project's argument.
- "The writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a nonhuman animal who is not a 'person' subjected to illegal detention," Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote in the court's ruling.
- "While no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion, the courts below properly granted the motion to dismiss the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and we therefore affirm."
What they're saying: "She's a depressed, screwed-up elephant," Steven Wise, the Nonhuman Rights Project's founder, told the New York Times in an interview ahead of the ruling's announcement.
- The Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the Bronx Zoo said in a statement that Happy is "well cared for by professionals with decades of experience and with whom she is strongly bonded," per the Times.
