Animals are property. Kevin Schneider takes the question of whether they should be to court. Kevin Schneider serves as an elephant’s lawyer. Her name is Happy, and in 2006 she made history as the first elephant to recognize herself in a mirror. Despite her name, she lives in isolation at the Bronx Zoo, away from the zoo’s other elephants, who injured and killed Happy’s companion pachyderm in 2002. Schneider — along with the organization where he serves as executive director, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) — wants her moved to a sanctuary. The case was dismissed by the Bronx Supreme Court on Feb. 20, with the judge saying Happy is “not a person” but admitting that the NhRP’s arguments were persuasive and that she “should be treated with respect and dignity, and … may be entitled to liberty.” It’s all about small steps. |