The battle to grant animals the same rights as humans.

Challenging the legal thinghood of autonomous nonhuman animals.

The Nonhuman Rights Project is leading the legal fight to secure fundamental rights for nonhuman animals through a state-by-state, country-by-country, long-term litigation campaign. Their groundbreaking habeas corpus lawsuits demand recognition of the legal personhood and fundamental right to bodily liberty of individual great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales held in captivity across the US.

With the support of world-renowned scientists and other experts, they argue that common law courts must free these self-aware, autonomous beings to appropriate sanctuaries not out of concern for their welfare, but respect for their rights.