Spain is to become the first country to extend legal rights to apes
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From: Derek on 29 Jun 2008 06:06 On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:08:32 -0700 (PDT), Rupert <rupertmccallum(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >On Jun 28, 2:47 am, Derek <usenet.em...(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Spain is to become the first country to extend legal >> rights to apes, wrongfooting animal rights activists >> who have long campaigned against bullfighting in the >> country. >> >> In what is thought to be the first time a national >> legislature has granted such rights to animals, the >> Spanish parliament�s environmental committee voted >> to approve resolutions committing the country to the >> Great Apes Project, designed by scientists and >> philosophers who say that humans� closest biological >> relatives also deserve rights. >> >> The resolution, adopted with crossparty support, calls >> on the Government to promote the Great Apes Project >> internationally and ensure the protection of apes from >> �abuse, torture and death�. �This is a historic moment in >> the struggle for animal rights,� Pedro Pozas, the Spanish >> director of the Great Apes Project, told The Times. �It >> will doubtless be remembered as a key moment in the >> defence of our evolutionary comrades.� >> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4220884.ece > >Yes, I saw that. Yes, but did you see it coming? I didn't. >It's a very encouraging development. I think the >Great Ape Project is a very promising strategy. The species barrier has been bust wide open. The speciesist who attempts to deny rights to animals on the basis of petty prejudice and discrimination can no longer argue that humans, by dint of being human, are the only animal on this earth legally entitled to hold basic rights against other humans. He has failed to make the case that while membership to group x morally and legally entitles members to hold rights against other members of that group, membership to another group automatically excludes them as rights holders against those members in group x. >Many chimpanzees, gorillas, and orang-utans will now be protected from >abuse, which is excellent. And, while apes hold legal rights against humans, those against the proposition of extending them further must show the morally relevant difference between them and the apes that now hold them. This is huge! |