Pablo Escobar's hippos are legally people... Says US Judge
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A row over whether a group of hippos introduced to Colombia by the cocaine baron should be sterilised and culled has led to the animals being granted “interested persons” status.
The descendants of cocaine baron and public safety. The decision is thought to be the first time such legal status has been granted to animals.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund sued in federal court in the southern district of Ohio for the right to depose two experts in non-surgical castration in the ongoing legal fight. The court granted the hippos the same rights as humans, or “interested persons”, because they have a stake in the outcome of the proceedings and therefore can be represented through a legal proxy, such as the ALDF.
“Animals have the right to be free from cruelty and exploitation, and the failure of U.S. courts to recognise their rights impedes the ability to enforce existing legislative protections,” said ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells in a statement. “The court’s order authorising the hippos to exercise their legal right to obtain information in the United States is a critical milestone in the broader animal status fight to recognise that animals have enforceable rights.”
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https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvng...-says-us-judge