Animals are people, too

Last year Spain became the first country on Earth to extend legal rights to animals , granting the great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans) – humanity’s closest relatives – the right to life, individual freedom and prohibition of torture. The rest of the world should follow the lead of the Spanish but go a few steps further by including all highly intelligent animals, not just apes.

Certain species of highly intelligent animals should be granted limited but basic legal rights normally applied exclusively to human beings, which would create a sort of expanded community of non-human persons. This expanded community would include humans, who would of course be granted the largest number of rights. In addition to humans, I propose that apes (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos), cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and elephants be granted the rights of individual liberty, life and prohibition of torture.

The reason behind this is simple: It’s morally intolerable to treat beings that are this intelligent with any degree of cruelty.

All of these species possess intellectual capabilities at least comparable to those of a small child, if not more so in some respects.

Scientists have established that dolphins have highly developed individual personalities, are fully conscious of their existence and capabilities, perform extremely well-coordinated group hunting activities and are capable of planning for the future.

Chimpanzees – with whom we share around 98 percent of our genetic material  – are capable of complicated interpersonal relationships, feeling intense emotions and communicating relatively complex thoughts and expressions. Elephants are capable of experiencing compassion and grief and are fully self-aware. All three species are capable of tool use and have been proven to have some components of culture, passing down certain area-specific behaviors from generation to generation.

There is some debate as to whether or not it constitutes language, but each of these species also employs highly complex communications systems and can even be taught artificial human languages (chimpanzees and gorillas have even been taught sign language).

When dealing with beings intelligent enough to engage in such advanced and human-like behaviors, I find it impossible not to see something at least somewhat human present behind their obviously sentient eyes. If it is wrong to detain, kill or torture a human for no reason, it should be wrong to do the same with these human-like animals as well.

Members of these species that are already being detained should be released unless they cannot survive in the wild, and we should stop exploiting them for entertainment in film and tacky amusement parks.

I understand that there is some educational value in keeping members of these species in zoos, but it is patently obvious that an even more educational and fulfilling experience would be to see these creatures in their natural habitats, where they are free to move where they wish and do as they please.


E-mail: zammerma@indiana.edu