By: prander

The rights of nonhuman animals, claimed on ethical grounds, to the same humane treatment and protection from exploitation and abuse that are accorded to humans.

Commonly used for the view that nonhuman animals are in every way persons. It attributes many implicit assumptions about humans to nonhuman animals. They are autonomous, possess the animating spirit, have unique personalities, are aware of self and surroundings, feel pleasure and pain, have complex emotional natures, use communication, possess memory, are capable of learning, etc., and are thus deserving certain rights (mainly the right to live in a free and natural state of their own choosing). They, then, deserve the same rights that humans are accorded.