The case for treating animals as humans

Yet even though Wise may be thought of as something of an outlier in the legal system, in the court of public opinion he seems to be swimming with the mainstream. A recent Gallup poll found that nearly a third of all Americans believe animals should have the same rights as people, and a majority feel they deserve “some protection,” yet can still be used for human benefit.

In addition, pressure from animal rights activists recently forced Ringling Brothers Circus to phase out all its elephants and move them to a Florida sanctuary.

And SeaWorld announced that it will stop breeding killer whales and will phase them out of its live shows in the wake of the sparked by the acclaimed documentary Blackfish.

Favre believes this sea change in opinion, which he says is relatively recent, is because “you can’t ignore the fact that pets have been important to the idea of a core family over the past 15 years. Pets are emotionally very important, and I think people are more aware of pets as companions and transferring that to other animals. And there is more and more science coming out about the complexity and intelligence of other animals.”