24/05/2007
Hiasl, who is around 25 or 26 years old now, was kidnapped from his birth place, in Sierra Leone in 1982 when he was just a baby. He was then transported to Austria to be used as a laboratory tool for AIDS and hepatitis research. At that moment he was discovered and, since he was being carried illegally, he was sent to an Austrian animal sanctuary where he has been living until recently. The sanctuary now faces bankruptcy and Hiasl’s future is once again uncertain. He might be actually sent to the laboratory to where the researchers had initially intended he be held. In order to protect Hiasl from this grim destiny, he needs to have a legal guardian appointed to him yet presently only humans possess a legal right to this. In order to save Hiasl his defenders now face the task of showing to the judge that he is not different in any relevant respect from humans. This case is very interesting since it shows an attempt by activists to blur the speciesist ideological line which distinguishes in moral and legal terms between humans and nonhumans. On the other hand, it is really unfortunate that in order to defend a sentient being it is necessary to show that he or she is in some respect similar to humans. His or her sentiency should be enough.