Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm'

• Court says elephants not human, cannot seek freedom
  

• Animal rights group says decision perpetuates an injustice

• Zoo called lawsuit frivolous, cites earlier rulings

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Five elderly African elephants at a Colorado zoo will stay there, after the state's highest court said the animals have no legal right to demand their release because they are not human.

Tuesday's 6-0 decision by Colorado's Supreme Court means Jambo, Kimba, LouLou, Lucky and Missy will remain at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.

It followed a similar decision in 2022 by New York state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, that another aged elephant, Happy, had to remain at New York City's Bronx Zoo.

An animal rights non-profit, Nonhuman Rights Project, brought both cases on the elephants' behalf under a legal doctrine known as "habeas corpus," saying the animals should live in sanctuaries.

Citing affidavits from seven animal biologists, the group told the Colorado court that elephants are highly social and mobile, share many cognitive abilities with humans including empathy and self-awareness, and when confined in zoos can experience boredom and stress that could lead to brain damage.

But the court said Colorado's habeas statute applies to persons, not to nonhuman animals "no matter how cognitively, psychologically, or socially sophisticated" they might be.

It also said Nonhuman Rights Project's concession during oral argument that it was seeking only different confinement, not complete freedom, for the elephants was another reason to treat them and humans differently.

The case "does not turn on our regard for these majestic animals generally or these five elephants specifically," Justice Maria Berkenkotter wrote. "Because an elephant is not a person, the elephants here do not have standing to bring a habeas corpus claim."

Forgot the pair of pliers at home. Rookie mistake, says Mr. Wallace.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/25076243

Yet another entry from the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction department, as drug-addicted rats have turned Houston’s police evidence storage into their personal stash house.

Oh, bother.

The simulation is running out of memory

...

Something sucks alright...

Guess the state....

The woman reportedly screamed out in pain as she was being taken out of the machine.

An anonymous medical provider reported the strange incident to the Food and Drug Administration in April 2023, though it’s received renewed media attention this week. The 22-year-old woman reportedly screamed out in pain as she was pulled out of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine following a scan, which then prompted her delayed admission of having had a “butt plug” inserted.

Check out where the first place was....

Ok, I'm calling in...too healthy. Running a marathon. That's why I'm sweating and out of breath, yes....

The only winner here is the ice scraper.

Edited headline to make it clear that the victim attacked the thief after finding the thief in traffic later on.

Insert related pun here