ALBANY, New York鈥揂 chimpanzee is not entitled to the rights of a human and does not have to be freed by its owner, a New York appeals court ruled Thursday.
The three-judge Appellate Division panel was unanimous in denying 鈥渓egal personhood鈥� to Tommy, which lives alone in a cage.
A trial-level court had previously denied the Nonhuman Rights Project鈥檚 effort to have Tommy released. The group鈥檚 lawyer, Steven Wise, told the appeals court in October that the chimp鈥檚 living conditions are akin to a person in unlawful solitary confinement.
Wise argued that animals with human qualities, such as chimps, deserve basic rights, including freedom from imprisonment. He has also sought the release of three other chimps in New York and said he plans similar cases in other states.
But the mid-level appeals court said there is no precedent for treating animals as persons and no legal basis.
鈥淪o far as legal theory is concerned, a person is any being whom the law regards as capable of rights and duties,鈥� the judges wrote. 鈥淣eedless to say, unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot bear any legal duties, submit to societal responsibilities or be held legally accountable for their actions.鈥�
That, they ruled, makes it 鈥渋nappropriate鈥� to grant the rights of a human to the animal.
The Nonhuman Rights Project said it will appeal to the state鈥檚 top court, citing other New York appeals court rulings it says are at odds with Thursday鈥檚 decision.
Tommy鈥檚 owner, Patrick Lavery, said Thursday he was pleased and expected the ruling.
Tommy, believed to be about 40 years old, is a former entertainment chimp who was placed with Lavery about 10 years ago. Lavery said Tommy is cared for under strict state and federal license rules and inspections.
The court noted there have been no claims that Tommy has been mistreated or any of those rules have been violated.