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 …

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

On December 7, 2023, the Nonhuman Rights Project filed our first habeas corpus lawsuit in Michigan, demanding the right to liberty of seven chimpanzees held captive in the DeYoung Family Zoo and their release to a chimpanzee sanctuary.

to nonhuman animals as it protects the right to liberty of humans because they are humans with certain fundamental liberty rights recognized by law. Id. at 927. ¶29 In Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. R.W. Commerford & Sons, Inc., 216 A.3d 839, 840, 844 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019), the court dismissed NRP·s petition for a writ

The Nonhuman Rights Project is the only civil rights organization in the United States dedicated solely to securing rights for nonhuman animals.

The NhRP is leading the legal fight to secure fundamental rights for nonhuman animals through a state-by-state, country-by-country, long-term litigation campaign. Our first lawsuits demand recognition of the legal personhood and fundamental right to bodily liberty of individual great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales held in captivity ...

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 …

Jul 29, 2024 · Meanwhile, we continue to seek passage of the first elephant captivity ban in the US in New York City as well as laws recognizing legal rights for nonhuman animals across the US.