More Monkey Business

I will admit that I am an animal lover. No not that way! Give your head a shake. I have always treated my "pets" like they were one of the family, another child if you would. I have spoiled everyone of my dogs since I was a wee lad. If you have ever read the "header" on this blog, you would have seen this quote: "The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog". There are many reasons for that but the main one is that, no matter what kind of day I have had, how miserable of a mood I am in, I know that my dog will except me and be there with her tail wagging all cheery and rambunctious as always. She makes no judgments at all, nor is there any expectations except perhaps that she will get a treat, or two, or three, or.... Anyways, where was I? Oh yea, although I have just as much and in some cases more respect for my pets than I do for some of the human species and they may even show some human traits, like enjoying watching Animal Planet! I know that they are not a person. They do not have "equal rights" as if they were a person. The right they do have is to be treated in a humane way, anything over and above that is my own doing. I am also very aware that I am solely responsible for the consequences of their actions.

As cute and cuddly as monkeys are, they are NOT a person. They are wild animals and should be treated as such. They should never be taken from the wild and raised as pets. I know it does happen, as not all humans seem to know this or even give a shit. They will do anything for the all mighty dollar. I digress... Now we have some people in Austria who want to have a chimp, named Hiasl, legally declared as a "person". The line "what could possibly go wrong" comes to mind. Where would it end? Perhaps I should be asking will it ever end? This is wrong, very very wrong. What these people need to be doing is to have laws passed to protect animals in these cases, not have them declared a person.

[...]In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26-year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a "person."


Hiasl's supporters argue he needs that status to become a legal entity that can receive donations and get a guardian to look out for his interests.


"Our main argument is that Hiasl is a person and has basic legal rights," said Eberhart Theuer, a lawyer leading the challenge on behalf of the Association Against Animal Factories, a Vienna animal rights group. [...]

Sorry Hiasl, you are not a person nor shall you ever be one, no matter what some people think. I will agree that you should have the right to be treated humanely, as should any other ANIMAL.