This is a true story about Matthew Hiasi Pan. Matthew is a 26 year old chimpanzee who lived in an animal shelter with his sweetheart. The animal shelter has declared bankruptcy. Matthew has a life expectancy in captivity of 60 years. Animal rights activists want to make sure these chimpanzees have a home.
A short history of these two chimps goes as follows: they were captured in the wilds of Africa in 1982 and smuggled into Austria for use in pharmaceutical experiments. Customs officers came to the rescue of the chimps and turned them over to an animal shelter before anything could harm them.
Donors have come forward to pay the $6,800 monthly for their upkeep but under Austrian law only a person can receive personal gifts. Organizers want to start a foundation to collect money for Pan but the only way they can do this is if the courts declare Pan a person. If this happens then a guardian can be appointed to protect Pan’s interests
The courts have struck down every argument made by the attorneys for the animal rights activists. The group doesn’t want the court to declare Pan a human but rather a person, which would give him some legal status. Otherwise, he is legally a ‘thing.’
The argument to the Supreme Court of Austria is, “Are chimps ‘things’ without interests, or persons with interest?” A court date hasn’t been set as of 9/28/09.