A city in California has passed an ordinance protecting the legal bodily liberties of elephants. The historic law marked the first legislation protecting the rights of nonhuman animals. The law was passed in an Ojai City Council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
It’s a decree that animal rights advocates have pushed for years.
“Recognizing the right to bodily liberty for elephants is the only way to truly protect them from human-caused harm, now and in the long run,” said Courtney Fern, director of Government Relations at the Nonhuman Rights Project.
Fern spoke ahead of the 4-to-1 Ojai City Council vote to approve the ordinance.
“Through scientific studies and observations, we have learned not only what elephants need to thrive but how captivity causes them immense physical and psychological harm,” Fern said. “As we gather here right now, there are 19 elephants in California being held captive against their will in small exhibits unjustly forced to exist for the benefit of their human captors.”
The groundbreaking protections in Ojai stem from an elephant named Tarra, who was held captive in Ojai Valley in the 1980s and forced to roller skate for human entertainment.
In 1995, Tarra was moved to a sanctuary in Tennessee. She was the first resident of what is now the largest elephant sanctuary in the U.S. Over the years, the sanctuary has become home to 32 elephants retired from zoos and circuses.
The legislation makes it illegal in Ojai to keep elephants in “captive settings that deprive them of their autonomy and ability to engage in their innate behaviors.”
Even though this ordinance marks progress being made, animal rights advocates say more needs to be done.
“While animal welfare laws can help reduce elephant suffering, they do not address the underlying problem, the fundamental loss of their freedom,” Fern said. “Elephants are majestic beings, they are autonomous, self-aware, and possess extraordinary emotional intelligence.”
