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Why did the Nonhuman Rights Project use habeas corpus petitions for captive chimpanzees?

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Three PETA protesters in animal masks and green clothing hold signs reading No Fur at a demonstration against fur in clothing at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea. — Animal rights A PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration in Seoul, South Korea, against the use of animals for fur in clothing.

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) utilized habeas corpus petitions for captive chimpanzees as a strategic legal mechanism to challenge their status as mere property under the law. By filing these petitions, the organization aimed to have courts recognize that these animals are legal persons who possess the fundamental right to bodily liberty.1

This approach is rooted in the principle that, like humans, certain nonhuman animals possess advanced cognitive, emotional, and social capacities that warrant legal protection. Because animals currently remain invisible to civil law and lack direct rights, the NhRP sought to establish legal personhood through the common law system. The petitions were intended to demonstrate that chimpanzees, as autonomous beings, should not be held in captivity, thereby advocating for their release and the recognition of their inherent value and interests.1