Apes Are People, Too: An Update!

Wendy Cohen July 14, 2008 | 6:55 pm EST

Three weeks ago, we reported that Spain has recognized the awesomeness of our closest genetic relatives by granting great apes the right to life and freedom.

Today, the New York Times expands on the story and explains:

“If the bill passes the news agency Reuters predicts it will it would become illegal in Spain to kill apes except in self-defense. Torture, including in medical experiments, and arbitrary imprisonment, including for circuses or films, would be forbidden. The 300 apes in Spanish zoos would not be freed, but better conditions would be mandated.”

The article then poses some interesting questions on how we interact with different species and can be empathetic to some but not to others. Even animal cruelty laws have biases:

For example, in a slaughterhouse, chickens are sent alive and squawking into the throat-slitting machine and the scalding bath.

But under the federal Humane Slaughter Act, a cow must be knocked senseless as painlessly as possible before the first cut can be made.

Read the entire article and takepart with the Humane Society.

Apes Are People, Too

When Human Rights Extend to Nonhumans