Happy’s legacy lives on and the fight for justice continues for elephants everywhere.
The Nonhuman Rights Project is celebrating this World Elephant Month in honor of Happy, the elephant whose groundbreaking legal case transformed the conversation about the rights of captive elephants. Happy died in May of this year, never having experienced the freedom she so deeply deserved, but her story and legacy continue to inspire a growing movement for justice.
Throughout the month of August, we’re bringing you behind the scenes of the legal, scientific, and advocacy work that shape and empower our fight to secure fundamental legal rights for elephants. Please subscribe to our email list to receive these updates first.
Here is a glimpse of what’s coming your way:
- Meet Our Elephant Clients: Get to know the remarkable individuals at the heart of our litigation—their personalities, histories, and the legal battles being fought to secure their freedom and release to a sanctuary.
- Expert Perspectives: Hear directly from world-renowned elephant scientists about the immense cognitive complexity, emotional depth, and rich social bonds that make lifelong captivity so inherently cruel. Their pioneering research and declarations of support in the NhRP’s cases help transform public understanding of the cognitive and emotional lives of elephants and make groundbreaking legal milestones possible.
- Inside the NhRP’s Cases: Receive exclusive, behind-the-scenes insights and updates on how our strategic litigation is steadily dismantling legal barriers and laying the groundwork for meaningful, lasting change for elephants.
- Direct Action: Access petitions, educational resources, and concrete opportunities to make your voice heard for captive elephants.
Why Your Support Matters Right Now
Changing an unjust, deeply-entrenched, legal status quo doesn’t happen overnight. Systemic legal change requires persistence, resilience, rigorous advocacy, world-renowned scientific research and testimony, and a community of supporters who refuse to back down.
When you support the NhRP’s mission, you aren’t just making a donation; you are actively funding the litigation strategies, legal briefs, expert testimony, and public advocacy campaigns that shape public opinion and drive groundbreaking legal progress for animals. Your support helps shift the tides of injustice toward a future where nonhuman animals, like elephants, are no longer treated as legal “things,” but as individuals and rights-holders.
Together, we are building a world where an elephant’s right to bodily liberty is recognized and protected under the law.
Join the Movement Today
Help us begin World Elephant Month strong! Every gift directly powers our litigation and public advocacy: in honor of Happy, in support of our current elephant clients, and to ensure a more just future—a future beyond captivity—generations of elephants to come.
Thank you for standing with the Nonhuman Rights Project this World Elephant Month! Together, we will honor Happy’s legacy by helping build a future where elephants’ rights are recognized and protected under law.