On March 16th, I stood before the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division arguing that the Court must recognize Tommy and Kiko as “persons” with the capacity for fundamental rights.
Today, the Court held that the NhRP could not seek a second writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Tommy and Kiko: denying our clients the justice they’ve waited far too long for.
For over 2000 years all nonhuman animals have been considered legal things who lack the capacity for any legal rights. This is not going to change without a struggle. With your help, that fight has begun and we remain confident that Tommy’s and Kiko’s fundamental right to bodily liberty will be recognized as a matter of justice so that they too may experience the freedom they so desperately deserve. Public opinion has begun to tilt in our favor since we started filing these lawsuits, likely as a result of them.
Over the next few days, the NhRP legal team will do a full review of the court’s decision and begin to plan our next steps for Tommy and Kiko.
I wanted to personally thank you for your continued support and reassure you that we will continue fighting for the fundamental rights of all our nonhuman animal clients.