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A26 INTERNATIONAL
Dialuna 23 Mei 2022
German farm owner saves fuel money with horse-drawn carriage

(AP) — Stephanie Kirch- So she has switched to travel- dren and some others. But
ner’s journey to work has ing the roughly 6 kilometers “of course humanity is hec-
got longer but, she says, (3 1/2 miles) from her home tic and then some people are
cheaper: she has left her in western Germany by annoyed if they can’t get past
SUV at home and switched horse-drawn carriage. That me fast enough,” Kircher
to real horse power. turns a one-way trip from says.
10-15 minutes to as much as
Stud farm owner and horse an hour. She acknowledges that her
trainer Kirchner, 33, says she answer to rising fuel prices
decided “it can’t go on like But Kirchner calculates that, isn’t for everyone.
this” after fuel prices jumped given how much fuel her
following the Russian inva- Toyota SUV consumes, she “I can’t put a horse in a park-
sion of Ukraine. “Since I also saves about 250 euros ($264) ing garage,” she says. “I think
suspected hay harvesting and per month if she can use a lot more horse riders would
everything else will become horse power every day. do it if opportunities were
much, much more expen- created for the horses.”
sive, we said, ‘we have to save Her carriage, drawn by two
a little money,’” she says. horses, is popular with chil-

Happy is an Asian elephant. But is she also a person?

to advance their coordinated “interested persons” with
agenda shows no concern for legal rights in the U.S. The
the individual animal and re- decision had no real ramifi-
veals the fact they are willing cations for the hippos them-
to sacrifice Happy’s health selves, given that they reside
and psychological well-being in Colombia.
to set precedent,” the zoo said
in a prepared statement. Opponents hope the NRP’s
string of court losses con-
NRP’s attorneys say no tinues with the high-profile
matter how Happy is being New York court.
treated at the zoo, her right
to “bodily liberty” is being In a friend-of-the-court brief,
violated. They argue that if the New York Farm Bureau
the court recognizes Happy’s and other agriculture groups
right to that liberty under said the NRP’s “new-fan-
habeas corpus, she will be a gled theory of personhood”
“person” for that purpose. would sweep up pigs, cows
And then she must be re- and chickens. The National
(AP) — She has four limbs, which is a way for people leased. Association for Biomedical
expressive eyes and likes to challenge illegal confine- “If there’s going to entire be a Research said authorizing
to stroll through greenery ment. rewrite and a granting to ani- Judges peppered attorneys such petitions on behalf of
in New York City. Happy, mals of rights that they never for both side with pointed animals could drive up the
by species, is an Asian ele- The Nonhuman Rights Proj- had before, shouldn’t that questions during oral argu- costs of conducting critical
phant. But can she also be ect wants her moved from a be done by the Legislature?” ments. Judge Jenny Rivera research. State and national
considered a person? “one-acre prison” at the zoo Kenneth Manning, an attor- asked Miller about the impli- associations representing vet-
to a more spacious sanctuary. ney for zoo operator Wildlife cations of NRP’s position on erinarians filed a brief say-
That question was before Conservation Society, asked human-animal relationships. ing NRP’s lawsuit promotes
New York’s highest court “She has an interest in exer- the judges. animals’ personhood rights
Wednesday in a closely cising her choices and decid- “So does that mean that I above animals’ welfare.
watched case over whether a ing who she wants to be with, Happy was born in the wild couldn’t keep a dog?” Rive-
basic human right can be ex- and where to go, and what to in Asia in the early 1970s, ra asked. “I mean, dogs can Supporters of NRP’s action
tended to an animal. do, and what to eat,” project captured and brought as a memorize words.” include public figures such as
attorney Monica Miller told 1-year-old to the United Harvard Law School profes-
The advocates at the Nonhu- The Associated Press ahead States, where she was even- Miller said right now there’s sor Laurence Tribe. Many of
man Rights Project say yes: of the oral arguments. “And tually named for one of the more evidence showing el- them see this case as a chance
Happy is an autonomous, the zoo is prohibiting her characters from “Snow White ephants are extraordinarily for society to take a step for-
cognitively complex elephant from making any of those and the Seven Dwarfs.” Hap- cognitively complex with ad- ward in the ethical treatment
worthy of the right reserved choices herself.” py arrived at the Bronx Zoo vanced analytical abilities. of animals.
in law for “a person.” The in 1977 with fellow elephant
Bronx Zoo, where Happy The group said that in 2005, Grumpy, who was fatally in- Lower courts have ruled “We believe this legal mo-
resides, says no: Through Happy became the first el- jured in a 2002 confrontation against the NRP. And the ment for Happy represents
an attorney, the zoo argues ephant to pass a self-aware- with two other elephants. group has failed to prevail in a key cultural crossroads
Happy is neither illegally im- ness indicator test, repeatedly similar cases, including those for thinking more openly
prisoned nor a person, but a touching a white “X” on her Happy now lives in an en- involving a chimpanzee in and honestly—and less self-
well-cared-for elephant “re- forehead as she looked into a closure adjacent to the zoo’s upstate New York named ishly—about what it would
spected as the magnificent large mirror. other elephant, Patty. The Tommy. mean to treat the particular-
creature she is.” zoo’s attorney argued in ity of non-human animals
The zoo and its supporters court filings that Happy can But last October, at the urg- with the moral seriousness it
Happy has lived at the Bronx warn that a win for advocates swim, forage and engage in ing of a different animal deserves,” a brief submitted
Zoo for 45 years. The state at the Nonhuman Rights other behavior natural for el- rights group, a federal judge by Catholic academic theolo-
Court of Appeals heard ar- Project could open the door ephants. ruled that Colombian drug gians read.
guments over whether she to more legal actions on be- kingpin Pablo Escobar’s infa-
should be released through half of animals, including “The blatant exploitation of mous “cocaine hippos” could The court’s decision is ex-
a habeas corpus proceeding, pets and other species in zoos. Happy the elephant by NRP be recognized as people or pected in the coming months.