"No Orangutan Writ of Habeas Corpus" and "Orangutan Declared a 'Person' by Argentine Court"

The author sounded a bit contradictory to me in this article. He wants the orangutan to have the care he deserves, yet he is fighting the battle from the other side. The media is a very strong force to enact change and for him to pin the animal rights groups as somehow ant-human seems counter intuitive. I don't understand the pride involved in making sure that animals, are not seen on the same level as humans. As a meat eater I understand there is a hierarchy and thankfully I sit atop of that, at least in Eau Claire. It just makes me feel different when the animal is not being used for for us to sustain ourselves, but for our amusement. These animals have pride and feelings and there have been recent studies that show just how social primates actually are. So to put an orangutan in what amounts to solitary confinement seems inhumane. The author should realize that these types of articles may have negative affects on progressing animal rights and realize how many animals may be impacted in the long run.

I also don't understand why the author is so concerned with humans maintaining the "person hood" title. Animals only want to be treated with the same respect that we do. So to try to fight for a word that humans constructed and animals are not fighting for seems counter productive in many ways. Animals are not always treated so harshly in zoo type settings, but when there is something happening that seems cruel we, as fellow living beings, should be the voice for the voiceless.