Rights for Bonzo?

• Author: Glaberson, William
• Position: Brief Article

Do animals have legal rights? Up to now, the law has treated animals as property. But a federal court in Washington, D.C., has ruled that zoo visitors may sue on chimpanzees' behalf for the right to companionship. "You can't just throw them a toy and give them an orange once a month," says Valerie J. Stanley, a lawyer who worked on the case.

Critics ridicule the idea. "Would even bacteria have rights?" asks...