Ape rights movement questions barriers

From the article:

“When a chimpanzee takes your hand to tell you something, you feel that you are dealing with a special creature”, Pozas says. He concedes that apes are not like humans, but describes them as “kinds of persons”. Western man’s traditional view of himself as a unique creature has already been modified by evolutionist theories, Pozas observes. “We need to break the barrier between the species,” he says, adding that such a change would help man preserve the environment instead of destroying it. Pozas expects the Spanish parliament to approve the ape rights initiative, which has received backing from academics in some 70 universities around the world. He stresses it is not sufficient to recognize rights for great apes, whose survival is threatened by deforestation, hunting, trafficking and disease. “We need to help developing countries protect the forests where apes live,"Pozas says.

See the whole article here: http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=9426

And an unpublished letter to the editor that I wrote on this issue:

Dear Editor:

I applaud the Spanish parliament for its compassionate efforts to extend protections to our fellow great apes—chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. This is an excellent example of how the law and society’s notions of inclusiveness can change through scientific knowledge. Thanks to the dedication of researchers around the globe, we now know that great apes have complex social and emotional lives. They form rich, long-lasting friendships, share cultural traditions, and are without question aware of their own interests. They are aware of their capacity for agency and certainly know when they are deprived of it. We need only look into the eyes of an imprisoned ape to know this is true. As such, extending rights and protections to apes is both a logical and a moral imperative.

Criticisms of the Spanish law mentioned in the article are unfounded. Our compassion for the needy does not diminish our compassion for the sick. The pending great ape legislation is not a case of an ethical “either/or” dilemma. We can find both the case for human rights and the case for great ape rights morally compelling. In the spirit of welcoming every opportunity to create a more inclusive and compassionate global community, I hope that the public will lend enthusiastic support to the Spanish legislation and pursue similar measures worldwide.