Animals in Zoos
“Animals in zoos are slaves, they are exploited for their masters. They are not ambassadors. They’re kind of sad.” Steve Wise
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Outtakes
I had an amazing time with this wonderful, diverse group of trailblazers, so I’m delighted to share some of the outtakes from the interviews.
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Why I Started Working on Behalf of Animals (Steve Wise)
Steve Wise is the President of the Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc, an organization working towards gaining legal rights for animals. Nonhuman Rights Project filed their first lawsuit on December 2nd, 2013 on behalf of captive chimpanzees to demand courts grant them a right to bodily liberty.
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Animals, Slavery and the Law (Compilation)
Steve Wise, Gary Francione and Peter Singer explain the connections between animals, slavery and the law.
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The Story of James Somerset
“Lord Mansfield…set up a series of trial dates for them to decide whether Charles Steuart had the right to sell [James Somerset], or whether James Somerset had the right not to be sold. In one of the most famous trials…Lord Mansfield…issued his opinion that slavery was so odious that the common law would not support it.” Steve Wise
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Zeitgeist
“When society was in a position to accept the idea that slavery was morally wrong and ought to be legally wrong, then the law began to shift.” Steve Wise
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Obstacles to Fundamental Change
“Each person within their own psyche has to begin grappling with whether or not nonhuman animals should no longer be treated as slaves, or should they be treated as slaves?” Steve Wise
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An Uncomfortable Idea
“We used to enslave human beings, now we enslave nonhuman beings in very similar ways. It’s only a comfortable thing if you don’t think about it.” Steve Wise
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The Principle of Equality
“Here you have human beings who basically have no autonomy, no consciousness, no sentience at all being treated as legal persons with a whole panoply of rights. And here you have, say chimpanzees or bonobos, who are pygmy chimpanzees, who are extraordinarily cognitively complex, who have autonomy, who should have dignity, and yet they’re treated as things. So as a matter of equality there is something wrong here.” – Steve Wise There are two versions of this clip. For the longer version, please see The Principle of Equality (extended version).
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One Thing to Improve the Lives of Animals (Compilation)
Peter Singer, Lee Hall, Richard Epstein, Steve Wise, Jarrod Bailey, Sarah Baeckler, Katherine Meyer, Pat Dingle and Gary Francione recommend one thing to improve the lives of animals.
