Happy the Elephant is not a person, says top NY court

[Velar Fricative]

This appears to be the first case of its kind to reach such a high court in the English-speaking world. 

www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/nyregion/happy-elephant-animal-rights.html

An Asian elephant named Happy that has been at the Bronx Zoo for more than 40 years will remain there after New York’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that she is not a person, in a legal sense, and therefore not entitled to a fundamental human right.



By a vote of 5-to-2, the court, the Court of Appeals, rejected an animal-advocacy organization’s argument that Happy was being illegally detained at the zoo and should be transferred to a more natural environment.



The dispute hinged on whether the cornerstone legal principle of habeas corpus — which people assert to protect their bodily liberty and to contest illegal confinement — should be extended to autonomous, cognitively complex animals like elephants.

[sonrisa]

Elephants aren't people but Citizens United and Hobby Lobby are.

[NewOrleans]

What about Hanno the Elephant?

[AJL]

Jun 14, 2022 10:31:18 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

What about Hanno the Elephant?

The 16th century pope's pet?

[NewOrleans]

Jun 14, 2022 10:49:38 GMT -5 AJL said:

Jun 14, 2022 10:31:18 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

What about Hanno the Elephant?

The 16th century pope's pet?

The very same! The golden one. smock
(it’s a long story) 

[smock]

The ghost of Hanno will haunt that court.

[TR]

Even if it's not a person, that doesn't mean it's not cruel for her to be housed the way she currently is.

[basilosaurus]

Aren't there regulations/accreditations for zoos? Is happy's situation in violation of those? Also, animal cruelty is still a crime, so does it reach that level? Sorry, I'm paywalled on the article.

should be extended to autonomous, cognitively complex animals like elephants.

So, then wouldn't that extend to zoos across the country that have elephants, great apes, etc? What is "cognitively complex"?

Can one of our legal eagles how 2 voted in favor? Was it in favor of hearing the argument? Or in favor of applying this to animals?