Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Lawsuits Could Turn Chimps Into Legal Persons


Still Waters

Recommended Posts

This morning, an animal rights group known as the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) filed a lawsuit in a New York Supreme Court in an attempt to get a judge to declare that chimpanzees are legal persons and should be freed from captivity. The suit is the first of three to be filed in three New York counties this week. They target two research chimps at Stony Brook University and two chimps on private property, and are the opening salvo in a coordinated effort to grant "legal personhood" to a variety of animals across the United States.

http://news.sciencem...l-persons?rss=1

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really hate how animals get abused but the reality is we have to experiment on something. mice monkeys etc. Its sad but I honestly see no way around it :no: . I know this isn't specifically related to the article but I feel like counting them as legal persons would make it hard to experiment on them.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Initially the title seems to indicate "another loony idea" but after reading the article, it is not the case at all.

NO animal should be used as research, whether they are cognitively advanced or not.

If they are asking for chimps and dolphins to be released, they should be including all animals.

BUT although I am fully against animals being used in research, as for zoos, it is not quite the same case. Some animals have been saved because of the zoos, saved from being wiped out by man.

Research purposes, we have no right to use animals when we have mass murders and child rapists who would be much more suitable and deserve to be tested on well before an innocent animal.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Legal persons? Do they need to start paying tax? When they kill another chimp in the wild, do they then go to jail?

I do not agree with all the things we do to animals too, but making them a Legal person is going to far? Not because of superiority or anything, for the fact that when you are a legal person, you must abid by the laws, and can you see them doing this?

May be the legal person thing is expanded in the article, which I have not fully read.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the government is run by monkeys, anyway...

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with not using them for research, but what are we going to do with all the captive chimps we have now. You can't just turn them loose, they don't know how to live in the wild and they can't live in our society. There are a lot of animals that are sentient like elephants, whales etc what do we do about them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe we should include all these creatures as persons, so we can enforce that they buy health insurance. Maybe if they are persons, humans would start getting married to them?

Seriously though I wouldn't advocate for Full Rights (Such as voting, gun ownership....), but I'd support not using the smartest of animals for research purposes and exploitive entertainment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think giving any other life form legal person status is a good idea, just because of the "legal" part, what does that mean, what kind of silliness can happen in courts. But I think bringing that up is a good idea just to raise attention on how we should treat other species on this planet.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well if they got their way, that would mean nobody could have pets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the people who don't want to use chimps as research. Is it only chimps or do you count all animals? and if all animals then how are we going to conduct experiments?

Its messed up but really if we didn't conduct research on animals it would put science progress back a lot. Because there is really no other way to do it. Even only banning chimps would slow things down.

I understand that morals has to trump scientific progress at times. For example we do not let people get tested on unless they volunteer and even then there is a limit to what humans are allowed to volunteer for.

It slows us down but it is the right thing to do. Many of our brain discovery's have been from people getting head injury's. It gives scientist a chance to see how it functions when certain parts are messed up. Its a nuance but its the only way to do it.

But if we ban testing on animals then I really don't see any substitute left.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe only protect the animals that you can give an individual name, and then who are able to come when you call their name?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I tell you what. Those little b******* better get jobs.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Give it a year, someone tries to marry a monkey.

Then everyone's gonna feel reeeeeeal stupid over the gay marriage argument.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Give it a year, someone tries to marry a monkey.

Then everyone's gonna feel reeeeeeal stupid over the gay marriage argument.

This is the stupidity of this request. It will open up more problems than its worth. Beastiality is already a crime - in most places so one you make them a legal person, the amount of laws that will have to change will cost the tax payers so much. Plus every animal will now be accountable for there actions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It really is an extraordinarily stupid idea. Let's make chimps into humans legally. Now we can't keep them in cages so we let them go. They run around biting people's faces off and snatching food out of people's hands. They're criminals, so we need to put them in cages. They keep misbehaving after we put them in cages and they must hate us for our freedom. They're terrorists.

Why don't we skip all the tragedy in the middle and legally declare all chimps terrorists?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While not trying to start an abortion debate, does it not seem odd that a chimp might be given legal "personhood" status while an unborn Homo sapiens does not?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do my best to not have an opinion of abortion, so I can't comment to that.

I think the first step to dealing w/ the chimp personhood thing is to see if the species can mix breed.

if they can breed w/ humans then the genetics are close enough to be human...ish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do my best to not have an opinion of abortion, so I can't comment to that.

I think the first step to dealing w/ the chimp personhood thing is to see if the species can mix breed.

if they can breed w/ humans then the genetics are close enough to be human...ish.

Well, you'll have to let me know how that works out, because I'm not volunteering, lol!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do my best to not have an opinion of abortion, so I can't comment to that.

I think the first step to dealing w/ the chimp personhood thing is to see if the species can mix breed.

if they can breed w/ humans then the genetics are close enough to be human...ish.

Actually some Russian freak tryd to make a human ape hybrid. http://io9.com/the-m...brids-513278104

He injected chimpanzee sperm into human females...

For anyone who wants a in-depth look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZsfIhjVtLE

Edited by spartan max2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How are you going to get a chimp to pay tax?

Yeh you'll have about as much luck we currently have getting corporations to pay tax.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't approve of this; it would make an ass of the law, but I approve of the motives. Chimps and other apes should not be treated the way they often are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.