Professor Richard Cupp Interviewed on "Should Animals Have Legal Personhood Rights?" -- PBS National Radio

Professor Richard L. Cupp was interviewed on the PBS National Radio On Point program on "Should Animals Have Legal Personhood Rights?" Professor Cupp spoke about animal welfare versus animal legal personhood.

Excerpt from "Should Animals Have Legal Personhood Rights?"

Corporations are not recognized as human beings, but they have certain personhood rights. Why wouldn't a similar thinking apply to animals?

Richard Cupp: "That's really one of the most common questions that's faced in this issue. And it's a good one for that reason. And I think it's one that might sound a little bit like a fastball question, but it's kind of a softball when you talk it through. Because courts have recognized that corporate personhood exists. And The New Yorker highlighted this in its decision rejecting animal legal personhood, that corporate personhood exists because the corporation is serving as a proxy for the human owners. It's a human creation and it's a convenience.

"... We can like corporate personhood or not, I'm agnostic with regard to this field on that question. And I know that it's controversial, but it does exist as a vehicle to promote the interests of the humans and the rights and responsibilities of the humans who put it together. So, animals are not a proxy for humans. They're completely, completely different. So corporate personhood, the New York court said, is effectively an extension or a byproduct of the focus on humanity. And personhood doesn't serve as a good challenge to the idea that personhood is centered on humanity."

The complete interview may be found at On Point