Michigan's Court of Appeals has ruled that chimpanzees are not considered “persons” with human rights. That means the owners of the DeYoung Family Zoo in the Upper Peninsula will not need to defend the confinement of seven chimpanzees. The Oct. 17 decision came after a lawyer for the Nonhuman Rights Project argued that a court should decide whether chimpanzees are entitled to some of the same rights to liberty as humans. In its decision, the Michigan appellate court said chimpanzees are animals, which previous courts have said should be treated as property. The Nonhuman Rights Project intends to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
