Please join the Nonhuman Rights Project on June 1st as they rally in support of freedom for Happy, a wild-born elephant held alone in captivity at the Bronx Zoo.
During the rally, NhRP attorneys and staff will give updates on their litigation on behalf of Happy and other efforts to obtain rights for autonomous nonhuman animals.
They will provide signs for attendees but feel free to bring your own. This will be a peaceful and respectful demonstration. This is an event where attendees will band together to advocate for the end of Happy’s imprisonment.
CLICK HERE for event details. Please RSVP on the Facebook Event page or by email to cfern@nonhumanrights.org.
WHAT: Rally for Happy’s Freedom
WHEN: June 1st, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
WHERE: Bronx Zoo, meet at Asia gate entrance (Gate A)
WHY: Join the NhRP in raising awareness about Happy’s plight and letting the Bronx Zoo know it’s time for it to close its elephant exhibit and send Happy to an elephant sanctuary.
Information on Happy and the Nonhuman Rights Project’s Litigation
The NhRP’s landmark elephant rights litigation on Happy’s behalf is headed to Bronx County, home of the Bronx Zoo, and they are calling for recognition of Happy’s right to liberty and her release to an elephant sanctuary. The NhRP has argued in court, with the support of world-renowned elephant experts, that elephants are autonomous beings who suffer deeply when deprived of their freedom and prevented from interacting with other elephants. Thirteen years after the Bronx Zoo and the entity that operates it, the Wildlife Conservation Society, acknowledged it would be “inhumane to sustain an exhibit with a single elephant,” Happy still spends every day alone. In the winter months, she lives in a cage in a holding facility.
Happy is the first elephant in the world to demonstrate self-awareness via the mirror self-recognition test. In December of 2018, two months after the NhRP filed a habeas corpus petition on her behalf, she became the first elephant in the world to have a habeas corpus hearing to determine the lawfulness of her imprisonment.
Happy’s court case is ongoing. In February, the Orleans County Supreme Court decided to transfer Happy’s case to Bronx County and hopefully the Bronx County Supreme Court will promptly order a hearing to consider the injustice being visited on her as an imprisoned autonomous being.
Whether through litigation or mounting public pressure, the Bronx Zoo must do the right thing for Happy and release her to one of the two operational sanctuaries in the US: the Performing Animal Welfare Society or the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.