Chimpanzees Belong in Sanctuaries - Not Cages!

Meet Kiko the chimpanzee. Kiko is 26 years old and lives in a cage at his "owner's" home in New York State. Kiko is also deaf, and as you can see, when he's not locked in a cage, at times he is forced to wear a chain and padlock around his neck.

Chimpanzees are cognitively complex, self-aware beings. But the law considers Kiko and others like him to be merely property—legal "things." As such, Kiko has NO LEGAL RIGHTS. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that even corporations are entitled to certain rights, Kiko has no more rights than a pair of tennis shoes.

Right now, the Nonhuman Rights Project's (NhRP) legal team is petitioning an appeals court to recognize Kiko as a legal person with the fundamental right to bodily liberty and demanding that he can be sent to a sanctuary where he can live freely with dozens of other chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees like Kiko belong in a sanctuary—not in a cage, not in a zoo, not in a laboratory, and not in a circus. But we urgently need your help to get this done. Please add your name to this urgent petition today and help us call for Kiko's freedom!