Category: sentience

2023 US Supreme Court Nonhuman Rights Victory!

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MAY 11, 2023
AMAZING WIN FOR PIGS IN US SUPREME COURT!!!
The High Court banned the sale of meat from pig gestation crates:  small, incredibly cruel crates where pigs who are among the most intelligent creatures cannot turn around or even scratch themselves or take care of their babies.  Pig factory farms everywhere must now dismantle crates in order to sell in California.  
This High Court ruling opened the doors for MA, FL, AZ, ME, MI, OR and RI that also have gestation crate bans.

This is a MASSIVE VICTORY for pigs and the Nonhuman Rights movement.  The US Supreme Court upheld a proposition passed overwhelmingly by California voters that bans the sale of meat from pig gestation crates.  This is a HUGE victory as California is the world’s fifth largest economy.  Pig factory farms everywhere must now dismantle crates in order to sell in California despite the fact that pork producers challenged Proposition 12 in court for five years.

The High Court upheld an animal welfare law approved by California’s voters, ruling that the state’s restrictions on the sale of pork that is produced by the cruel
confinement of breeding pigs do not violate the Constitution.  This ruling is an amazing Victory for Nonhuman Rights advocates as well as the rights of the states to set their own laws.  The National Pork Producers Council said the law would require farmers in Iowa (that sells most of its products to California) and North Carolina (that has a tremendous presence of pigs farms) to change how they raise and confine these intelligent, sentient nonhuman beings.

LET’S GOOOO!!!  LET’S NOT QUIT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE MIRACLE!!!

Recent Nonhuman Rights Legal Celebrations

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MAY 11, 2023
AMAZING WIN FOR PIGS IN US SUPREME COURT!!!
The High Court banned the sale of meat from pig gestation crates:  small, incredibly cruel crates where pigs who are among the most intelligent creatures cannot turn around or even scratch themselves or take care of their babies.  Pig factory farms everywhere must now dismantle crates in order to sell in California.  
This High Court ruling opened the doors for MA, FL, AZ, ME, MI, OR and RI that also have gestation crate bans.

This is a MASSIVE VICTORY for pigs and the Nonhuman Rights movement.  The US Supreme Court upheld a proposition passed overwhelmingly by California voters that bans the sale of meat from pig gestation crates.  This is a HUGE victory as California is the world’s fifth largest economy.  Pig factory farms everywhere must now dismantle crates in order to sell in California despite the fact that pork producers challenged Proposition 12 in court for five years.

The High Court upheld an animal welfare law approved by California’s voters, ruling that the state’s restrictions on the sale of pork that is produced by the cruel
confinement of breeding pigs do not violate the Constitution.  This ruling is an amazing Victory for Nonhuman Rights advocates as well as the rights of the states to set their own laws.  The National Pork Producers Council said the law would require farmers in Iowa (that sells most of its products to California) and North Carolina (that has a tremendous presence of pigs farms) to change how they raise and confine these intelligent, sentient nonhuman beings.

MAY 21, 2020
The Islamabad High Court of Pakistan affirmed the rights of nonhuman beings and ORDERED THE RELEASE of Kaavan (an Asian elephant held in solitary confinement at the Marghazar Zoo) to a sanctuary.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah stated that the global pandemic served as “an opportunity for humans to introspect and relate to the pain and distress suffered by other living beings” caused by the “arrogance” of human beings. Chief Justice Minallah stated that “zoos do not serve any purpose except to display their living inmates as exhibits to visitors.”
Chief Justice Minallah cited New York State Justice Alison Tuitt’s February 2020 decision in Happy the elephant’s case (on appeal by the Nonhuman Rights Project, counsel for Plaintiff Happy the elephant): “[Happy] is more than just a legal thing, or property. She is an intelligent, autonomous being who should be treated with respect and dignity, and who may be entitled to liberty.”
The Islamabad High Court is the second court outside the United States to cite Justice Tuitt’s February 2020 ruling, and the latest court to cite the New York Court of Appeals Judge Eugene Fahey’s rejection of chimpanzees’ legal “thinghood” in Nonhuman Rights Project’s chimpanzee rights cases of clients, Tommy, Kiko, Leo and Hercules.

Happy awaits her forever home.  Here is her story:  https://lnkd.in/eHKtHXRX

MARCH 21, 2018
Chimpanzees Hercules and Leo ACHIEVED FREEDOM with the support and legal prowess of their attorney, Nonhuman Rights Project Founder and President, Professor Steven M. Wise.
Hercules and Leo are celebrating their fifth year at Project Chimps sanctuary in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia thanks to Professor and Nonhuman Rights Project Founder and President Steven M. Wise.  “I’m very happy to see them leaving a research facility,” exclaimed NhRP President Steven M. Wise in 2018. “I wish every primate could.”
Hercules and Leo have adjusted well in their forever home. Hercules protects young Kivuli during group conflicts and loves giant stuffed animals. Leo enjoys playing with the younger males in his group and loves peanut butter.
I remain elated that Dr. Jane Goodall is still alive to celebrate this incredible Victory!

LET’S GOOOO!!!  LET’S NOT QUIT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE MIRACLE!!!

Our feelings v. Their suffering

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What about them? If we are simply acting as a voice for the voiceless, then why must we continually argue with each other?
Think about it. How can we have the audacity to compare human beings taking offense to words versus the constant suffering abuse, torture, pain, fear and terror that nonhuman beings must endure during their entire short lives until they experience their own violent deaths after witnessing the violent deaths of their loved ones?
This question begs two more questions.
 
First, what is the only species that kills for fun and sport?
“Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he’s the one that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.” Mark Twain, American writer, 1835-1910
 
Second, how should humans treat other species?
Most cultures agree with a common theme of Goodness which implies Compassion, Empathy, Gentleness, Kindness, Peace and the Golden Rule…which supports Veganism; not Violence, Torture and Slaughter.
For example, Christians refer to the Bible. In Genesis 1:26, the Bible states that God gave humans “dominion over creatures.” Many Hebrew scholars believe the word “dominion” is a very poor translation of the original Hebrew word “v’yirdu” which actually meant “to rule over” as a wise king rules over his subjects with CARE and RESPECT. It implies a sense of RESPONSIBILITY and ENLIGHTENED STEWARDSHIP.

“Unlike the animal, God has given man the faculty of reason. Ethically they had arrived at the conclusion that man’s supremacy over lower animals meant not that the former should prey upon the latter, but that the higher should protect the lower, and that there should be mutual aid between the two as between man and man. They had also brought out the truth that man eats not for enjoyment but to live.” Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

“We are all God’s creatures—that we pray to God for mercy and justice, while we continue to eat the flesh of animals that are slaughtered on our account, is not consistent.” Isaac Bashevis Singer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1902-1991

“Animals, too, are God’s creatures…Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible.” Pope Benedict XVI, 1927-2022

“In my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. The more helpless the creature, the more it is entitled to protection by man from the cruelty of man.” Gandhi

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Gandhi

“When I see a cow, it is not an animal to eat, it is a poem of pity for me and I worship it and I shall defend its worship against the whole world.” Gandhi

“If God wants us to breed into existence billions of animals to enslave, torture and slaughter them (mostly as babies) for sensory pleasure, then what in the world could the Devil possibly want? Gary Yourofsky, American Activist

Esoteric Thought

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No one cares what a person does to himself.
If a person wishes to hurt or kill himself, no one cares.
It’s when a human being hurts, tortures or kills other living beings that people take an interest to protect and advocate innocent living beings who do not have voices to defend their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
What are we teaching our children?
Do we deserve to have children if we cannot teach them Right from wrong or Good from evil?
“Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable.  Of the entire brood, he’s the one that possesses malice.  He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain.  The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.”
Mark Twain
“If we kill them, they will kill us because none of us can escape Karma.”
Carol Mosca
Why must most human beings experience the same as other living beings to feel empathy?
Must human beings experience continuous torture to eat a plant diet?
YES! Most humans are not empaths, earth angels and lightworkers.
Most humans must suffer with and die from lifestyle diseases caused by consuming the flesh, byproducts and secretions of nonhuman beings such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, arthritis, digestive disorders, asthma, allergies, acne, obesity, zoonotic origin global pandemics, et al. even if they run to the largest lot of drug dealers in the world (MDs) to get drugs or have procedures.
(Evidence of “If we kill them, they will kill us because none of us can escape Karma.”)

Only one effective health insurance exists in the world:  diet and exercise.  Anything else is sick insurance where you pay an insurance company to stay sick.

Gift of Life = Right to Life

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In Memory of the Eloquent and Prolific May 21, 2020 Legal Ruling to Free Kaavan to a Sanctuary (Kaavan is the elephant to whom Cher sang and helped set free.)

“While it may be arguable that a chimpanzee is not a ‘person,’ there is no doubt that it is not merely a thing”…(quoting Judge Fahey from ongoing New York State Court cases for Nonhuman Rights Projects clients/chimpanzees Tommy, Kiko, Hercules and Leo)

“The emphasis and importance of ‘life’ and the protection of living beings cannot be overstated in every religion and faith. Be it Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism or any other religion, there is no dispute that ‘life’ is the most precious and superior creation of the Creator. There is consensus amongst all religions of the world that animals are ‘sentient beings,’ ie, able to perceive and feel.”…

“An object or thing without ‘life’ has no right. A living being on the other hand has rights because of the gift of ‘life’.”…

“It is also a natural right of every animal to be respected because it is a living being, possessing the precious gift of ‘life’.”…

“It is a natural right of an animal not to be tortured or unnecessarily killed because the gift of life it possesses is precious and its disrespect undermines the respect of the Creator.”

JUDGMENT SHEET

IN THE ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT, ISLAMABAD

(JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT)

W.P. No.1155/2019

Islamabad Wildlife Management Board

through its Chairman

Versus

Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad

through its Mayor & 4 others

November 2021 Thanksgiving Thought and Prayer

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Is the Italian culture different from the Irish culture? Sure. Is the Native American culture different from the African culture? Of course. Are horses different from pigs? Yes. Are dogs different from turkeys? Yes.
As we celebrate our differences, let us all respect our similarities. All human beings AND nonhuman beings FEEL Joy, Peace and Love as well as Depression, Fear and Pain. Each day, as we give gratitude for our blessings, let us ALL practice Compassion and Empathy.🐔🐰
Turkeys want to spend time with their loved ones too!

2020 Nonhuman Rights Legal Victories

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May 21, 2020 marks an incredible victory in the animal liberation movement, and should certainly be recognized as an international holiday.

On May 21, 2020, the Islamabad High Court of Pakistan affirmed the rights of nonhuman beings and ordered the release of Kaavan (an Asian elephant held in solitary confinement at the Marghazar Zoo) to a sanctuary.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah stated that the global pandemic served as “an opportunity for humans to introspect and relate to the pain and distress suffered by other living beings” caused by the “arrogance” of human beings. Chief Justice Minallah stated that “zoos do not serve any purpose except to display their living inmates as exhibits to visitors.”

Chief Justice Minallah cited New York State Justice Alison Tuitt’s February 2020 decision in Happy the elephant’s case (on appeal by the Nonhuman Rights Project, counsel for Plaintiff Happy the elephant): “[Happy] is more than just a legal thing, or property. She is an intelligent, autonomous being who should be treated with respect and dignity, and who may be entitled to liberty.”

The Islamabad High Court is the second court outside the United States to cite Justice Tuitt’s February 2020 ruling, and the latest court to cite the New York Court of Appeals Judge Eugene Fahey’s rejection of chimpanzees’ legal “thinghood” in Nonhuman Rights Project’s chimpanzee rights cases of clients, Tommy, Kiko, Leo and Hercules.

What is our relationship with nonhuman beings?

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Most human beings agree that nonhuman beings should be treated humanely, and they should not suffer unnecessarily.  Many human beings share their homes with dogs and cats who they treat like family members.  Many humans get upset when they see someone mistreat a dog or cat, and offer help because they understand the innocent victim is suffering and/or call law enforcement because they understand the mistreatment represents an illegal act.

Ironically, these same people support necessary suffering of nonhuman beings every day because laws protect and justify necessary suffering for human purposes.  Acts that warrant criminal charges when performed by private citizens and would certainly be regarded as torture if they were committed against human beings remain LEGAL as long as there exists a human purpose.

The food, clothing, research and experimentation, and entertainment industries all represent human purposes.  These industries unconscionably, cruelly and violently torture, mutilate and slaughter innocent lives for human purposes.  Although no isolated act of cruelty or violence against a nonhuman being can be condoned or minimized in any way, every single year, human beings support the cruel and violent treatment of approximately 70 billion nonhuman beings who live on land and one trillion nonhuman beings who live in the sea.  (All wars in the history of the world account for the loss of about one billion lives.)

To date, many human beings deny the Truth that is quickly unraveling because they refuse to educate themselves by watching live footage of the inside of factory farms or by visiting a slaughterhouse like the young medical doctor did in the story of The White Cow below.

Mothers cannot imagine what it would be like to have their newborn babies taken away from them.  As a result, they refuse to believe the Truth that standard industry practice separates mothers and babies within the first 24 hours of birth.  There exists a plethora of documentaries, YouTube videos, undercover investigations, interviews, et al. regarding this Traumatic Truth.

Every day, human beings are duped by Big Ag and Big Pharm into believing a ridiculous oxymoron like “humane treatment” exists.  (The definition of humane is “having or showing compassion or benevolence.”)  They believe the marketing and advertising slogans such as farm raised, grass fed and no antibiotics or hormones actually transform toxic substances into healthy foods exactly like they bought the marketing and advertising schemes of commercials of doctors, movie stars, athletes and housewives boasting of toasted, tasty, relaxing, refreshing, fashionable cigarettes from 1941 to 1971.  (See Posts entitled, “The Correlation between Tobacco and Big Ag” and “Sensory pleasure:  Big Ag (meat, fish, dairy, egg industries) verses Tobacco” herein.)

Unfortunately, whether we partake in this holocaust, we all continue to get swindled out of our money (due to the approximate 200% extra cost we all pay ) for the hidden medical and environmental costs of indulging in the flesh, byproducts and secretions of nonhuman beings for sensory pleasure.

Please learn the FACTS, and share the FACTS with others TODAY.  The insightful, informative video below by Lesli Bisgould, Canada’s first Nonhuman Rights Lawyer, was published on May 6, 2014!

2019 Recap

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New Hope Now and the Nonhuman Rights community made extraordinary progress in 2019.

Last year, I met with Senator Booker’s Counsel, Adam Zipkin, and Lauren Tavar regarding the passage of several Nonhuman Rights bills.  As I suspected, only one, entitled the Compassionate Cosmetics Act, appeared ripe for passage.  (The other drafts remain on hold…but, not for long!)

I also designed this website; created a YouTube channel, and filmed and published several videos; wrote a book and created an online store.

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxYfWHombiEm_9P2QQd6yTw

Cool hoodies for gifts or yourself:  https://teespring.com/stores/utopia-15

Eye Opening book:  https://www.test.newhopenow.net/eye-opening-book/  

PLEASE KNOW that I remain extremely grateful and blessed for all of YOUR gracious support.  I love being a part of the most important social justice issue of our time, and most importantly acting as a steward for all nonhuman beings.

2020 is going to be a GREAT year!  We are on the brink of freeing them all!

I, personally, have exciting plans as you will soon see.  With respect to advocacy and legislation, it appears President Trump may have opened a doorway for us when he signed PACT, HR 724 on November 25, 2019.  

More good news.

Senator (and Presidential Candidate) Cory Booker introduced the Farm System Reform Act of 2019 which will place a moratorium on CAFOs.

In addition, The Guardian published an article about an ethical veganism/employment discrimination case.  Apparently, Peter Daly, Esquire of the prestigious law firm of Slater Gordon in London will represent Mr. Casamitjana who was terminated by his employer, League Against Cruel Sports, because he advised his colleagues that their employer invested pension monies in companies involved in animal testing.  It appears that the aforementioned lawsuit serves as an opportunity to set a legal precedent with respect to protected classes which has the potential to set the tone for the rest of the world because as you know, most people do not understand that veganism represents a lifestyle and the premise is “ahimsa” which means “nonviolence and reverence for all life” in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jainist traditions.  Accordingly, absolutely yes, veganism does fall under the umbrella of religious discrimination.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/dec/29/ethical-vegan-jordi-casamitjana-protected-status-court-tribunal

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/animal-rights-new-year-veganism-cruelty-free-peta-a9264191.html?fbclid=IwAR0EQ1Mg4bXKjZFC7Y2_-wgIHippRXNhmv2fYzfCFU4YrN9TOHGjxgd4YGs

Difference between Plants and Animals

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ALL ANIMALS FEEL PAIN, but…

Do plants feel pain?  NO!  Plants do not have brains or central nervous systems.  They cannot feel anything.

Watch this short, easy to understand, video from Mercy for Animals and chooseveg.com.

Mercy for Animals graciously granted permission for the use of this video on June 11, 2019.

In addition, since nonhuman beings generally possess keener, more acute senses than human beings,

nonhuman beings may feel more than human beings

according to Renowned Bioethics Professor Peter Singer who wrote Animal Liberation in 1975. 

All animals feel pain.  Professor Singer states, “The behavioral signs include writhing, facial contortions, moaning, yelping or other forms of calling, attempts to avoid the source of pain, appearance of fear and terror at the prospect of its repetition, screaming, crying, trying to physically escape.”(1)

Professor Singer explains that if sentient human beings feel pain, then sentient nonhuman beings do also because both species possess nervous systems.  Both sentient human and sentient nonhuman beings have “nervous systems which provide physiological signs of pain:  an initial rise in blood pressure, dilated pupils, perspiration and increased pulse rate, and if the stimulus continues, a fall in blood pressure.”(2)

Infamous and beloved Dr. Jane Goodall noted in her study of chimpanzees in In the Shadow of Man “when it comes to expression of feelings and emotions, language is less important than nonlinguistic modes of communication such as cheering, a pat on the back, an exuberant embrace, a clasp of hands, etc.  The basic signals we use to convey pain, fear, anger, love, joy, surprise, sexual arousal and many other emotional states are not specific to our own species.”(3)

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS ENABLE ALL ANIMALS TO POSSESS THE ABILITY TO FEEL.

ALL ANIMALS HAVE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEMS.

THUS, ALL ANIMALS HAVE THE ABILITY TO FEEL.

OKAY, NOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND NONHUMAN BEINGS DO, IN FACT, HAVE FEELINGS, WE KNOW THAT NONHUMAN BEINGS ARE SENTIENT because

Sentience is the capability of feeling.

Sentience represents the exclusive requirement for consciousness or self-awareness.  All human and nonhuman living beings possess sentience because all living beings have the ability to experience feelings of pain, sadness, loneliness, depression, pleasure, happiness, love, joy, etc. 

(1)  Peter Singer, Animal Liberation, The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement (New York:  Harper-Collins Publishers, 2009) 11.

(2)  Singer 11.

(3)  Singer 14.