Humanity seems to be edging toward a radical new accommodation with the animal kingdom. However, if the Justice granted the habeas petition to move Happy from the zoo to a sanctuary, in the eyes of the law she would be a person. American law treats all animals as “things”-the same category as rocks or roller skates. The subject of the petition was Happy, an Asian elephant in the Bronx Zoo. Habeas petitions are not often heard in court, which was only one reason that the case before New York Supreme Court Justice Alison Y. In Bronx County, most such claims arrive on behalf of prisoners on Rikers Island. According to the civil-law code of the state of New York, a writ of habeas corpus may be obtained by any “person” who has been illegally detained.
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