Summary
In 2016, Dr. Buompadre of the AFADA brought a case against the Mendoza Zoo in the name of Cecilia, a chimpanzee, to the Third Court of Guarantees in Mendoza. Dr. Buompadre made a case for habeas corpus and the inherent rights of Cecilia as a non-human person. The intelligence and sentience of chimpanzees were cited as part of the supporting argument. The court sided with Dr. Buompadre and Cecilia and declared “the chimpanzee Cecilia, currently housed in the Mendoza Province zoo, a subject of non-human rights” (44). In doing so set a new precedent for animal rights cases. In 2017, Cecilia was transferred from the Mendoza Zoo to the Sorocaba Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sao Paulo.
Related Initiatives
Suggested Citation:
Kauffman, Craig, Catherine Haas, Alex Putzer, Shrishtee Bajpai, Kelsey Leonard, Elizabeth Macpherson, Pamela Martin, Alessandro Pelizzon & Linda Sheehan. Eco Jurisprudence Monitor. V2. 2025. Distributed by the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor.https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/cecilia-the-chimpanzee-case/.
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