Druglord Pablo Escobar's Lawyered-Up Hippos Recognized As People By US Court
NDTV
The ruling came after a nonprofit organisation filed an application seeking to allow two experts in nonsurgical sterilization of wildlife to provide testimony supporting a Colombian lawsuit to stop a cull.
In a first, a US court has recognized animals as legal persons -- specifically, the descendants of Pablo Escobar's hippopotamuses who have thrived in Colombia since the notorious drug lord was killed almost 30 years ago.
The ruling came after the nonprofit Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) filed an application seeking to allow two experts in nonsurgical sterilization of wildlife to provide testimony supporting a Colombian lawsuit to stop a cull.
At a federal court in Ohio, magistrate Judge Karen Litkovitz last week granted the request of the plaintiffs, the "Community of Hippopotamuses Living in the Magdalena River."
The ruling was based on a US law that allows an "interested person" in foreign litigation to request US depositions to help their case.
