This is huge. According to this Reuters blurb, the proposed legislation which would, in effect, comply with the Great Ape Project's Declaration on Great Apes and extend what are currently regarded as ''human'' rights to all other apes. The proposed legislation has the support of all political parties and is expected to go through. It's expected that within the next year, all experimentation on apes will be banned, and it will also be illegal to hold apes in captivity for entertainment purposes (e.g. circuses, filming, etc.).
There'll still be some in zoos, but over 70% of these zoos will now be forced to drastically improve the conditions under which the apes are kept.
I'll see if I can dig up more details concerning this over the next few days.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Spain to extend rights to apes
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2 comments:
This is WONDERFUL news. I personally think it should be extended to all animals myself, but this is a good start. And don't get me started on zoos.....
I think many people have a problem with granting human rights to animals, as they always extend it beyond basic human rights. What I mean is, the argument I often hear is, "So we have to let the deer vote?" This is, of course, absurd, but it shows that people fail to see the lack of basic rights to a proper livelihood that animals have.
It's been nice to see more concern in the news.
I missed this comment (and others). I am sooo glad to be back online.
It's been interesting to see the opinion pieces that have popped up all over the place since this happened. Most are against what Spain is doing, of course. I think it's simply incredible, myself. I hope it's a sign of more change to come.
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