Rights protect against intolerable wrongs—no matter who you are. With persistence and rigor, we're challenging a centuries-old status quo that unjustly sees all nonhuman animals as legal "things" with no rights.

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is an American nonprofit animal rights organization seeking to change the legal status of at least some nonhuman animals from that of property to that of persons, with a goal of securing rights to bodily liberty (the right not to be imprisoned) and bodily integrity (the right not to be experimented on). [1]

Our groundbreaking work challenges an archaic, unjust legal status quo that views and treats all nonhuman animals as legal “things” with no rights. As with human rights, nonhuman rights are based on fundamental values and principles of justice such …

On October 24, 2024, the Colorado Supreme Court will examine the injustice of how we view nonhuman animals. As the first case of its kind in Colorado and the Western US, this is a watershed moment for elephants and for nonhuman animal rights—and our …

Jan 21, 2025 · The Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. (NRP) filed a Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of the elephants, seeking their transfer to a suitable elephant sanctuary. NRP argued that the elephants were unlawfully confined and had a right to bodily liberty due to their cognitive and social complexities. The petition included affidavits ...

3 days ago · The Nonhuman Rights Project appealed the case to the Colorado Supreme Court, which has now upheld that decision. “‘Person’ is a term that attaches to any individual or entity possessing (or ...

Feb 13, 2024 · The Nonhuman Rights Project aims to establish the right of nonhuman animals to personhood, dignity, and fundamental rights within the United States and throughout the world. Our long-term campaign to achieve this goal has three …

Your gift will help make nonhuman rights a legal reality and end the suffering caused by animals' rightlessness.

A future where no elephant has to endure the traumas of being torn from their families and natural habitats, bred against their will, and shipped from zoo to zoo is possible, and we need your help to make it a reality.

Happy and Patty are suffering. That is a fact. Captured from the wild and held captive at the Bronx Zoo for 47 and 50 years respectively, Asian elephants Happy and Patty need to be immediately relocated to an accredited elephant sanctuary that can meet their physical and psychological needs while they are still healthy enough to be transferred.