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Are Chimpanzees People?

SUNDAY MAY 6 2007 8:00 AM

Submitted by thefreak. Edited By erin_broadley.

TAGS: chimpanzee, animal rights, Austria

Chimpanzees have been entertaining people around the world for centuries. Whether wearing children's clothes or throwing poop at unsuspecting zoo-goers, we think of them as funny, hairy, little people.

But is a chimp really a "person?" In the case of 26-year-old "Hiasl," animal rights activists in Austria would say yes.

Hiasl's supporters argue he needs that status to become a legal entity that can receive donations and get a guardian to look out for his interests.

"Our main argument is that Hiasl is a person and has basic legal rights," said Eberhart Theuer, a lawyer leading the challenge on behalf of the Association Against Animal Factories, a Vienna animal rights group.

"We mean the right to life, the right to not be tortured, the right to freedom under certain conditions," Theuer said.

Hiasl and another chimp, Rosi, went from being smuggled as babies from Sierra Leone, and brought to Austria to be guinea apes for pharmaceutical testing before being intercepted by customs and brought to a local animal sanctuary, which has since gone bankrupt.

Despite food and veterinary bills of almost $7000 a month, they are unable to accept gifts from donors, due to an Austrian law stating only people can receive personal donations. Therefore, Hiasl's supporters aim to make him a real boy.

Organizers could set up a foundation to collect cash for Hiasl, whose life expectancy in captivity is about 60 years. But without basic rights, they contend, he could be sold to someone outside Austria, where the chimp is protected by strict animal cruelty laws.

"If we can get Hiasl declared a person, he would have the right to own property. Then, if people wanted to donate something to him, he'd have the right to receive it," said Theuer, who has vowed to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

Even legendary ape lady Jane Goodall will be joining the fight, as Hiasl's legal team has her among several expert witnesses for their appeal which is yet to be set.

Austria isn't the only country that's gone ape for apes, as Spain's Parliament is considering endorsement of a bill supporting the Great Ape Project:

...a Seattle-based international initiative to extend "fundamental moral and legal protections" to apes.

Now, couldn't this be dangerous, you ask? Mr. Thueur is quick to assuage any fears of a real-life Planet of the Apes by saying:

"We're not talking about the right to vote here."

Well, Bush got voted in for a second term. Could a chimp do worse?

thefreak, through his unhealthy obsession with monkeys and apes, fully supports this endeavor, and hopes to someday have a chimp as a roommate.

65 Comments

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magpieboy

Seattle, WA

June 2004

MAY 06, 2007 08:17 AM

thefreak said:

"We're not talking about the right to vote here."

"I didn't rent it shoes. I'm not buying it a fucking beer. He's not gonna take your fucking turn, Dude!"

Yeah, right.

deanmoriarty

Los Osos, CA

July 2006

MAY 06, 2007 08:26 AM

Uh, why not donate the money to a person and then just spend it on the chimp?

LostLucy

USA

December 2006

MAY 06, 2007 08:37 AM

Maybe this creature needs protection but that should be a separate issue.

The genetic sequence of humans and chimps are 99.4% identical, but the genes that vary interact and communicate with a multitude of other genes to give us our visible and other differences.
chimp & human gene info

I'd vote for chimp over W any day ~!

Greybeard

Los Angeles, CA

December 2006

MAY 06, 2007 09:36 AM

LostLucy said:
The genetic sequence of humans and chimps are 99.4% identical, !

I have to wonder about this statement. I'd been seeing it in print for at least 25 years before the Human Genome Project even got started. How could anyone assert this as a Fact before any gene-mapping technology existed?

chikinhammr

Orlando, FL

April 2006

MAY 06, 2007 09:36 AM

Chimps ain't people. I know cuz chimpsaintpeople.com says so.

Saraphine

SUICIDEGIRL

Pennsylvania, USA

MAY 06, 2007 09:41 AM

deanmoriarty said:
Uh, why not donate the money to a person and then just spend it on the chimp?

Yeah. That seems a whole lot quicker and easier, but what do I know?

Jennifer_

Venezuela

November 2006

MAY 06, 2007 09:41 AM

Chimps have the intelligence and mental ability of a three year old child. Interestingly enough, so do pigs.

geo35

Minneapolis, MN

January 2003

MAY 06, 2007 09:45 AM

Besides being downright nutty, having un-people declared as people seems like a slippery legal slope to me. Are we sure we want to set that kind of precedent? Certainly there must be a simpler way to protect Hiasl.