Animals Recognized As ‘Legal Persons’ In U.S. Court First

Oct 20

The United States legal system defines animals as ‘property’, with their legal rights closer to inanimate objects rather than living beings. Now, for the first time, a legal ruling has recognized a community of wild hippopotamus as legal persons.

A community of wild hippopotamus have become the first animals to be recognized as ‘legal persons’ in a U.S. court, with experts calling the landmark legal case a “critical milestone” in the fight for animals to secure legal rights.

Currently, animals are defined in the United States legal system as ‘property’ - meaning that their rights are similar to inanimate objects, rather than living beings. Under the status of ‘property’, legal protections for animals are severely limited and courts can struggle to protect them from cruelty and neglect.

Now, a new ruling in a legal case over the protection of a group of wild hippopotamuses, has recognized the animals as legal persons rather than property, for the first time in a United States court.

The group of around one-hundred wild hippopotamus are currently living in the Magdalena River in Colombia. They are descendents of animals imported by the drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, with four hippopotamuses escaping from his private zoo and residence during the 1980s. Their numbers have grown since thriving in the wild, and the group now face a legal battle over their future.

Some ecologists are calling for the hippopotamuses to be slaughtered, whilst others advocate for the animals to be administered contraception to prevent their numbers from growing.

Non-profit organization the Animal Legal Defense Fund, filed the case on behalf of the hippopotamuses, in a lawsuit against the Colombian government’s plan to slaughter the animals.

The legal application was granted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, recognizing the plaintiffs as the “community of hippopotamuses living in the Magdalena River”. This decision results in the court therefore recognizing the hippos as legal persons.

“Animals have the right to be free from cruelty and exploitation, and the failure of U.S. courts to recognize their rights impedes the ability to enforce existing legislative protections,” says Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Executive Director Stephen Wells.

“The court’s order authorizing the hippos to exercise their legal right to obtain information in the United States is a critical milestone in the broader animal status fight to recognize that animals have enforceable rights.”

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