 | |
| Founded | 2007 (as a project of the Center for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights), officially renamed NhRP 2012 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Steven Wise |
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Focus | Animal rights |
| Location | |
Area served | United States |
| Method | Sustained strategic litigation |
Key people | Steven M. Wise, Jane Goodall, Kevin Schneider, Elizabeth Stein, Monica Miller, Michael Mountain |
| Website | www |
The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is an American nonprofit animal rights organization seeking to change the legal status of at least some nonhuman animals from that of property to that of persons, with a goal of securing rights to bodily liberty (the right not to be imprisoned) and bodily integrity (the right not to be experimented on).[1] The organization works largely through state-by-state litigation in what it determines to be the most appropriate common law jurisdictions and bases its arguments on existing scientific evidence concerning self-awareness and autonomy in nonhuman animals. Its sustained strategic litigation campaign has been developed primarily by a team of attorneys, legal experts, and volunteer law students who have conducted extensive research into relevant legal precedents.[1] The NhRP filed its first lawsuits in December 2013 on behalf of four chimpanzees held in captivity in New York State.[2] In late 2014, NhRP President Steven Wise and Executive Director Natalie Prosin announced in the Global Journal of Animal Law that the Nonhuman Rights Project was expanding its work into other countries, beginning in Switzerland, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal, and Australia.[3]
The Nonhuman Rights Project was one of Animal Charity Evaluators' Standout Charities from 2015 to 2019.[4]
- ^ a b "About Us". NhRP Website. Nonhuman Rights Project. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
- ^ "Rights Group Is Seeking Status of Legal Person for Captive Chimpanzee". New York Times. December 2, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
Chimpanzees are not people, no matter how they are dressed up for commercials, but perhaps they are close enough that they deserve some of the same rights humans have.
- ^ "The Nonhuman Rights Project: Coming to a Country Near You" (PDF). Steven Wise, Natalie Prosin. Global Journal of Animal Law. December 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ Animal Charity Evaluators (December 2019). "The Nonhuman Rights Project". Retrieved April 29, 2022.