Direct link: Austrian court throws out appeal to get chimpanzee declared a person

Here's the basic story. This chimpanzee (first named "Pan", but now given the more human-like name of Matthew Hiasl Pan) was captured early in his life to be used in pharmaceutical testing. He was recovered by border guards on the Austria-Sierra Leone border and placed into an animal shelter, which is now under federal bankruptcy protection and on the verge of shutting down. Activists want the chimp legally declared a person, so that he can be appointed a guardian -- Austrian law forbids guardianship status to be given to something that is not "a person" -- to take care of him should the shelter close down. Other have suggested that people simply donate money to keep the shelter afloat, but with the $6800 CND/month pricetag to care for a single chimpanzee, this seems out of the question. Plus, since donations would be made simply for the chimpanzee's care, this is also illegal, since Austrian law also forbids personal gifts to something that is not "a person".

This case has been thrown out of district court twice now in Austria, and the activist group is planning to take it to the next level and bring the matter to the Federal Supreme Court.

This raises interesting questions about not only human rights but animal rights. Both sides obviously believe they have both the law and the popular opinion on their side. Where do you stand?

well o f course he is not a person. but we can give special attention like we do to normal person. like feeding him food that we eat. sharing our personal belongings. and treat him like a baby. but still he is just animal and not human.

No, it's not a human.

There's a difference here between being a person in the eyes of BIOLOGY and being a person in the eyes of THE LAW. Biologically, the ape isn't a person. Well, I mean, it kinda is if you believe in Evolution, but you know what I mean. What this group is trying to do is make it so that this close relative of ours (eat it, Creationists) is seen as a "person" in the eyes of the law so that he may be granted a guardian to take care of him should his care facility be shut down. Because in Austria, if you read what I typed, it's currently illegal. Or was at the time.

Court: Chimp cannot be declared a person, Austrian high court rules
^ It was thrown out of Supreme Court as well.

What this basically means is that there is little protection from being sold for Matthew. So he could go BACK into cosmetics "torture" all because the Austrian government has a stick up its ass about what constitutes a person.

well i really don't approve of it. unless you have much money to pay for it. if you will depend on the government to care for them this is not right. cause we should take care more of unfortunate people in our country than caring for them cause they can survive in the wild where they truly belong.

They're not asking the government to take care of the ape. They're asking the government to declare the ape a person SO THAT IT CAN BE ADOPTED.

wow that is rly rly dumb...woot....

humans evolved from apes, which means apes can be human, just a very early "version" of one.

Well, I'm not even sure what to say about that, but it justs shows you how seriously people can care about things.

adopting an ape? well i don't agree with that. why would any one would go that far to adopt an ape. i don't think they are not worth the trouble of adopting or including as part of family.