Bronx, New York City. Saturday, June 1, 2019 – Rally in support of Happy’s freedom. Happy is a wild-born elephant held alone in captivity at the Bronx Zoo.

The rally was organized by the Nonhuman Rights Project and it was joined by Change.org, CompassionWorks International, Voters For Animal Rights, In Defense of Animals, and Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund. Activists called for recognition of Happy’s fundamental rights and her transfer to sanctuary. During the rally, NhRP attorney gave updates on their litigation on behalf of Happy and other efforts to obtain rights for autonomous nonhuman animals.

“With the NhRP’s landmark elephant rights litigation on Happy’s behalf headed to Bronx County, home of the Bronx Zoo, we are calling for recognition of Happy’s right to liberty and her release to an elephant sanctuary.

“As we have argued in court with the support of world-renowned elephant experts, elephants are autonomous beings who suffer deeply when deprived of their freedom and prevented from interacting with other elephants (https://www.nonhumanrights.org/client-happy/). Thirteen years after the Bronx Zoo and the entity that operates it, the Wildlife Conservation Society, acknowledged it would be “inhumane to sustain an exhibit with a single elephant,” Happy still spends every day alone. In the winter months, she lives in a cage in a holding facility (https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/nyregion/bronx-zoo-plans-to-endelephant-exhibit.html).

Whether through litigation or mounting public pressure, the Bronx Zoo must do the right thing for Happy and release her to one of the two operational sanctuaries in the US: the Performing Animal Welfare Society or the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee,” the Nonhuman Rights Project says.