Lawyer pursues bid to have caged chimp declared a ‘ legal person’
ALBANY, N. Y. — His name is Tommy, he is retired from the circus and he now spends his days watching television in a mobile home park in upstate New York. Tommy is also a 26- year- old chimpanzee who lives in a cage.
And the primate is now having his day in court as activists pursue a landmark lawsuit for him to be the first animal to be declared a person — with the same rights as humans — under U. S. law.
In a hearing before the New York Supreme Court appeals division in Albany, Stephen Wise, a lawyer and president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, argued that Tommy is a “legal person” entitled for certain basic protections, including freedom from captivity.
The immediate consequence would be to free Tommy so that he can live out his days in a primate sanctuary in Florida — just as many elderly Americans head to the Sunshine State for their retirement.
But the much- anticipated test case would set a legal precedent in the field of animal rights, touching on fundamental questions about differences between humans and other animals.
Wise is arguing his case not on the basis of animal welfare, but that Tommy is enduring “unlawful imprisonment” in a “small, dank, cement cage in a cavernous dark shed” and was entitled to habeas corpus, a writ that requires a person under detention to be brought before a judge.
In his support, he filed affidavits from leading scientists, including Jane Goodall, the British primatologist, about chimpanzees’ capacities.
Tommy was not in court and nor was his owner, Patrick Lavery, who co- owns a trailer park. But Lavery has argued that Tommy is a happy pet who has “really got it good” and that his “shed” is a luxurious $ 150,000 facility. Wise dismissed such claims and said Tommy’s condition is the same as a human in solitary confinement.
The five judges struck a highly skeptical tone, repeatedly expressing doubt that “personhood” could be conferred on a non- human.
They will issue their ruling at a later date.