Bronx Zoo elephant “Happy” strolls inside the zoo’s Asia Habitat in New York. A legal fight to release Happy the elephant from the Bronx Zoo after 45 years was argued Wednesday, May 18, before New York’s highest court in a closely watched case over whether a basic right for people can be extended to an animal. Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP
In my recent article, The Humanization of Animals and the Custody of Companion Pets When Couples Separate or Divorce, NYLJ (March 23, 2022), I discussed the numerous attempts by animal rights organizations to obtain writs of habeas corpus for animals (chimpanzees) that they believe have innate traits and qualities akin to human beings. In each instance, the efforts failed and never went beyond the four Appellate Division departments, each of which concluded that no such writ can lie for nonhuman animals.
On June 14, 2022, in Matter of Nonhuman Rights Project v. Breheny, __ N.Y.3d__, 2022 NY Slip Op 03927, the Court of Appeals, in a 5-2 decision, resolved the issue with a definitive “no”, that animals (in this case, “Happy”, an elephant) are not human beings and, therefore, are not entitled to obtain a writ of habeas corpus for their release from custody.
