Prosecute Animal Protector Granting Status 'People' For Chimps

Animal protection activist groups appealed a U.S. court to recognize the legitimate status of chimpanzees as "people". They represent the four chimpanzees were considered eligible for the "right legal basis" for free.

Nonhuman Rights Project group filed a lawsuit to court in New York to give the status of "person" legally for chimpanzee "Tommy" who was 26 years old. Similarly, according to the New York Times reported on Tuesday (12.03.13).
They wanted a formal declaration, that "residence" Tommy in a small cage, dark and made of cement in downtown New York, to be unlawful. They demanded Tommy moved to the conservation of primates, where he can live in an environment similar to their natural habitat.
"This petition asks the court to issue a formal letter acknowledging that Tommy is not a legal object that can be owned by someone, but" someone "who has the legitimate right to obtain autonomy and fundamental freedoms," according to a lawsuit.
This week the group Nonhuman Rights Project filed the same claim on behalf of the four chimpanzees who were in New York. Besides Tommy, still Kiko, 26, deaf and dipiara chimpanzees in private homes, as well as Hercules and Leo who becomes the object of a laboratory experiment at Stony Brok University. No owner of a chimpanzee who commented on these claims to the media.
Lawsuit also write a statement of scientists who say, chimpanzees have the cognitive ability as humans. They were aware of what happened in the past, able to make decisions, and show emotions such as empathy.
Chimps' have complex cognitive abilities that would be protected if found in humans, "said Steven Wise, president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, told Reuters. "There is no reason why these capabilities are not protected if it is found in chimpanzees."