(Web Desk) - Five elephants in a Colorado zoo could someday sue for their freedom.
But it depends on if the state’s Supreme Court stands with an animal rights group and declares them 'persons' under the law. But first, the justices had a few questions about cats and dogs.
“How do I know where it stops?” Justice Melissa Hart said during Thursday’s hearing, wondering whether this ruling might someday lead to emancipating people’s pets.
At stake is whether the elephants from the Cheyenne Zoo should be treated as people under the law.
It was a question asked several times but never really answered.
The NonHuman Rights Project says the elephants should be able to use a long-held process that’s mainly for prisoners to dispute their detention.
The group says the animals, born in the wild in Africa, are showing signs of brain damage because the zoo is essentially a prison for such intelligent and social creatures, known to roam for miles a day.
They want the animals released to one of the two accredited elephant sanctuaries in the United States because the group doesn’t think they can live the wild anymore.