I got to get this monkey off my back.

I read today that animal rights activists in Austria are going to court to try and get a chimp declared human. They have given the 26y.o. chimp a human name- Mathew Hiasl Pal and are petitioning for their day in court. The reason is of course altruistic, the center the chimp now lives in may shut down and the group feels that if the chimp were declared human, it would be easier for them to declare a legal guardian to look after him and to provide him a home. I have no problem at all with that. Obviously the chimp needs to be cared for but to declare him human? Don't get me wrong I love animals, I hate to think of them suffering or uncared for but you can't just change something's species to accommodate your interests. The Association Against Animal Factories group president, Martin Balluch says, "It is astounding how all the courts try to evade the question of person hood of a chimp as much as they can." Is this guy serious? I am not debating the fact that animal deserve protection under the law, that is the least we can do but to declare an animal a human being? I know there will be people who disagree with me, but let me ask you this: If he is indeed declared a person than does he deserve the same rights as all citizens of Austria? Does he get to vote in elections? Pay taxes? And if he does not get these rights, does he then become a class of human? Will he be second class citizen? Yes, these are silly questions but they open up a whole other realm of possibilities. Now I do think they should change one law in Austria, one that not only makes better sense but would be more beneficial for the chimps ,the law that only a person can receive a charitable gift. People want to donate money to the the chimps future upkeep but under Austrian law this is not possible hence the reason the group has gone to extreme measure to declare him human. The Austrian government has so far dismissed the case sighting the lack of proper legal representation for the chimp, turns out you have to be a person to have someone represent you. Seems like there is more than one law that should be changed in Austria. Perhaps the group should start there rather than trying to declare another species human?