The phrase non-human persons is quite fitting considering animals are not people, but scientists will argue that animals experience emotions just as humans do. For example, my cousin’s dog cries on rainy night because it reminds her of her rough past, being left outside in a damp cardboard box. Now, we cannot prove that my cousin’s dog cries for that reason, but dogs, and humans, cry because they feel a certain emotion.

Besides dogs, I also consider orangutans and chimpanzees to be nonhuman persons. Orangutans and chimpanzees are our cousins, so it is only right to consider then nonhuman persons. They are intelligent and possess emotion. If you take away their hairy appearance, they are exactly like humans. It depends on where one draws the line in considering an animal to be a nonhuman person. Which characteristics? Is it based on how closely an animal resembles humans?

Nonetheless, I believe sometimes humans act as nonhuman persons, and are more in touch with their animal side. Some humans cannot control the natural impulse they have to kill or act a certain way. Humans separate themselves from the other animals based on the ability of higher cognitive thinking and of experiencing emotions. Some believe that humans should get their own category and not be labeled as animals along with the others.

I came across this amazing site that is dedicated to give certain animals nonhuman rights. It is an organization that is aimed at giving animals legal rights. They also have interesting articles regarding the organization’s progress as well as random ones (my favorite is Why Animal Rights is a Contradiction in Terms).