Ecuador Gives Legal Rights To Animals

You may wonder, what does an Ecuadorian court’s ruling have to do with me. I encourage you to read this entire article. It is clear that as the alt-left agenda advances, the rights of animals, the right of nature, and climate issues will take a higher place of importance than our own rights.

The court of Ecuador has ruled that nonhuman animals have rights. The court’s ruling was brought about by a habeas corpus action filed on behalf of a woolly monkey.

Estrellita, the woolly monkey, had been captured when she was very young. She lived in captivity for 18 years with Ana Beatriz Burbano Proaño. In 2019, environmental authorities took Estrellita by force and relocated her to a zoo. The authorities seized Estrellita, saying that possessing a “wild animal” is prohibited. The woolly monkey died within a month.

This led Ana Beatriz Burbano Proaño to file the case, alleging that the authorities had violated her monkey’s rights.

Estrellita the monkey was taken from the wild, kept in a librarian’s home for 18 years, then removed to a zoo where she died after one month. Each of those acts violated Estrellita’s rights, Ecuador’s top court said in a landmark case. https://t.co/NtikVXah5H

— Inside Climate News (@insideclimate) March 30, 2022

Because Ecuador’s national Constitution includes a “rights of nature” provision, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court judges had to decide if the law could uphold animal rights at a constitutional level. With a seven to two vote, the Court ruled that animals are the subject of rights.

In an article by the PR Newswire, leading Ecuadorian environmental lawyer Hugo Echeverría shows the gravity of just how far this ruling elevated animal rights.

“This verdict raises animal rights to the level of the constitution, the highest law of Ecuador,” said leading Ecuadorian environmental lawyer Hugo Echeverría, who brought the case to the attention of NhRP. “While rights of nature were enshrined in the constitution, it was not clear prior to this decision whether individual animals could benefit from the rights of nature and be considered rights holders as a part of nature. The Court has stated that animals are subject of rights protected by rights of nature.”

PR Newswire also reported the outlined rights that apply to some or all of the animals.

• Right to exist (paragraph 111).
• Right not to be hunted, fished, captured, collected, extracted, kept, detained, trafficked, traded, or exchanged (paragraph 112).
• Right to the free development of their animal behavior (paragraph 112), which includes the right to behave according to their instinct, the innate behaviors of their species, and those learned and transmitted among the members of their population, and the right to freely develop their biological cycles, processes, and interactions (paragraph 113). Animals must be guaranteed sufficient space and social conditions to ensure the possibility of the free development of their animal behavior (paragraph 137).
• Right to freedom and good living (paragraph 119). Animals have the right to freedom of movement (paragraph 137).
• Right to food according to the species’ nutritional requirements (paragraph 119). Animals must have access to adequate food and water to maintain their health and strength (paragraph 137).
• Right to live in harmony (paragraph 119).
• Right to health (paragraph 119). Animals must be ensured adequate sanitary conditions to protect their health and physical integrity (paragraph 137).
• Right to a habitat (paragraph 119).
• Right to demand their rights from the competent authorities (paragraph 121).
• Right to physical, mental, and sexual integrity (paragraph 133).
• Right to live in an environment that is suitable for each species, with adequate shelter and resting conditions (paragraph 137).
• Right to life (paragraph 155). Animals must be ensured life in a violence-free environment, as well as an environment free from disproportionate cruelty, fear, and distress (paragraph 137).

I am dumbfounded by the list of rights given to these animals. While these animals are given rights and protection, hundreds of thousands of unborn babies are murdered every year. While these animals are being given rights and protection, police are using brutal force against human citizens exercising their right to protest mandates.