Austrians sue for recognition of chimp personhood

When the sanctuary taking care of 26 year-old chimp Hiasl went bankrupt activists raised money to support him. But Austrian law says you have be a legal person to accept donations, or to have a guardian appointed. So the activists have teamed up with the Great Ape Project to sue for recognition of great ape personhood and rights. On the Women’s Bioethics Blog attorney-bioethicist Terry Tomsick writes:

In bioethics, “personhood” is the gravamen of any discourse about a right to life, ranging from embryos, fetuses, and now to a possible test case involving Hiasl, a 26 y.o. male chimpanzee in Austria. The sanctuary where he has lived for the past 25 years has gone bankrupt. So that Hiasl will not become “homeless, “ a Viennese attorney wishes to have Hiasl declared a “person”...meaning that “he has the right to life, the right not to be tortured, and the right to freedom under certain circumstances.”

The case could end up in the European Court of Human Rights. Among other things, if Hiasl is declared a person, he would have the right to own property and if people wanted to donate money to him, he’d have the right to receive it. Witnesses for Hiasl will include Jane Goodall.

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