Summary
In 2018, the NonHuman Rights Project filed a petition on behalf of Happy, an Asian elephant born in 1971, demanding recognition of Happy’s legal personhood and rights. Happy was held inside the Bronx Zoo and had lived alone since 2006 in a 1.15 acre exhibit. After a series of legal proceedings, Justice Tuitt of the New York Supreme Court ruled that she is bound by legal precedent to deny NHRP’s habeas corpus.