After a lengthy and rigorous evaluation process, Animal Charity Evaluators has again designated the Nonhuman Rights Project a Standout Charity in its December 2017 Updated Charity Recommendations. The NhRP is one of nine Standout Charities and the only organization among the 12 ACE recommends that is working to secure actual legal rights for nonhuman animals.
“Attempting to secure legal personhood and rights for nonhuman animals could be the most promising avenue for improving the lives of animals in our society,” ACE writes in its summary of the NhRP’s strengths. “As far as we know, the NhRP is the only organization directly pursuing litigation and legislation towards this end, and they seem well prepared to make progress. They have spent substantial effort learning from previous social movements, such as the anti-slavery and LGBTQ+ movements. Additionally, the NhRP’s cases have captured public attention and were even the subject of a 2016 documentary [Unlocking the Cage].”
We appreciate ACE’s focus on the long-term nature of our work and the core issue that drives our mission—the irrationality and injustice of a legal status quo that sees all nonhuman animals as legal “things” with no rights. Evolving standards of morality, scientific discovery, and human experience suggest that at least some nonhuman animals must be recognized as legal persons with the fundamental right to bodily liberty, i.e. not to be “owned” by humans or human institutions or held in captivity.
Read the comprehensive review here. Thank you, ACE, for giving people who care about nonhuman animals an important resource for determining how best to give on this #GivingTuesday and beyond.