In Vienna, Austria what seemed to be a small case to protect the welfare of Hiasl has pitted animal rights groups against each other and if it is won, could set a global precedent. The Association Against Animal Factories began it's suit when the animal sanctuary that chimpanzees Hiasl and Rosi have lived in for over 25 years went bankrupt. Donors have offered to help defray the $6,800 a month cost of their food and care but under Austrian law, only a person can receive personal donations. The Association is seeking to have them declared a "person" so that they may have a guardian appointed and be able to receive donations for their care directly.
"Our main argument is that Hiasel is a person and has basic legal rights. We mean the right to life, the right to not be tortured, the right to freedom under certain conditions." We're not talking about the right to vote" said Eberhart Theuer, lawyer for the Association Against Animal Factories
On April 24 2007, Paula Stibbe's petition to be appointed Hiasl's legal trustee was turned down. Judge Barbara Bart ruled that Hiasl didn't meet two key tests: he is neither in an emergency or mentally impaired. Although expressing concern that awarding him a guardian might create the impression that animals enjoy the same rights as humans, she didn't rule that he could never be considered a "person"
Michael Antolini, president of the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals does not back this move and worries about what other legal doors this status would open if granted. The chimpanzees are not homo sapiens, although they share 99.4% of their DNA with humans but they are also not just objects, the only other option the law provides at the moment.
I do understand their legal moves to prevent the chimps, who may live another 25 or more years in captivity, from being sold and moved from Austria, where they are protected by strict anti cruelty laws. There was only one phrase that entered my mind when I first read this story.............
"Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape."
Charlton Heston, as George Taylor, Planet of the Apes
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