A court in Argentina has ruled that Sandra, an Orangutan being held in an Argentine zoo, can be freed and moved to a sanctuary after the court recognized the ape as a ‘non-human person’ being unlawfully deprived of its freedom.
Animal rights activists, seeking to free Sandra, filed a habeas corpus petition, which are traditionally used to challenge the legality of a human being’s imprisonment. The association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights made the case that Sandra had sufficient cognitive functions and that it’s wrong to treat her as an object.
The court agreed that Sandra, who was born into captivity in Germany 20 years ago deserved the basic rights of a non-human person.
