“Although the immediate question before Justice Tuitt was the future of a solitary elephant, the case raised the broader question of whether animals represent the latest frontier in the expansion of rights in America—a progression marked by the end of slavery and by the adoption of women’s suffrage and gay marriage.”
In the latest edition of The New Yorker magazine, Lawrence Wright explores our legal fight to #FreeHappy from the Bronx Zoo to a sanctuary and the global movement to ensure that nonhuman rights are protected alongside human rights. In the quote above, Wright looks back on the unprecedented three days of habeas corpus hearings Happy had in the Bronx Supreme Court in late 2019 and early 2020. Later this year the New York Court of Appeals will become the highest court of an English-speaking jurisdiction to hear a habeas corpus case brought on behalf of someone other than a human being.
Click here to read and share the article, and look for the issue on newsstands later this week!
For a detailed timeline of Happy’s case, court filings, and decisions, visit this page. Find all the latest on the fight for Happy’s freedom and ways to take action on our new Free Happy campaign page.