A few hours ago, Coco, the mono carayá found in a wardrobe during a search of a house in Belgrano, was declared by the Justice non-human subject of law. “The total and absolute freedom of Coco is provided, a specimen of the carayá species, free from any measure, legal restriction and / or interference, in its character as a non-human animal, subject of law, authorizing their transfer to the center specialized in the treatment, recovery and / or animal welfare called Proyecto Carayá, in the province of Córdoba ”, reads the resolution of the Misdemeanor and Misdemeanor Court No. 4 of the city, in charge of Rocío López Di Muro.

Coco is at least five years old and was rescued in an operation carried out on Calle La Pampa at 3100, which had numerous complaints of annoying noise and organization of parties until dawn. He was locked in a closet without light, water or ventilation, in terrible health. If this judicial resolution is not mediated, it would be tied to the cause faced by their captors and there would even be the possibility that they would be reinstated if they were acquitted and paid the corresponding fine for illegal traffic The animal abuse.

It happens that Argentine laws consider things to animals and a declaration needs to be promoted in each particular case. In his writing, López Di Muro stated that animals are deserving of the broadest legal protection given their condition of victims and subjects –not human–. And that by not being able to act by themselves, “it is the human beings who must represent them in the face of the violation of their rights.”

He thus responded to a request from the prosecutor Carlos Rolero Santurián, responsible for the Fiscal Unit Specialized in Environmental Matters (Ufema) porteña, on the basis of two very important antecedents in our country: that of the Sandra’s orangutans and that of the chimpanzee Cecilia. The latter was letting herself die after losing her family, locked up in the Mendoza zoo, which is why a habeas corpus was filed., legal figure used to obtain the freedom of a human being; Cecilia obtained the first habeas corpus in the world granted to an animal and was released in a sanctuary in Brazil. Sandra, who lived in the zoo in the city of Buenos Aires, was declared a subject of law by a ruling and also obtained her release in a sanctuary in the United States.

Regarding Coco, based on the medical report issued by the Temaikèn Foundation, where he was subjected to a series of studies, it is known that he will never be able to fend for himself or live with other monkeys. That is why there are objections to what was resolved by the Justice regarding his transfer to the center Carayá Project; There are doubts even about exposing it to the long journey to Córdoba, given that the specimen is still very fragile and runs the risk of being paraplegic in the event of a blow.

For the moment, until the final decision on his transfer, he will be recovered as much as possible at the home of the Lienhard family, volunteers of the NGO Fallen Birds, who was in charge of the rescue and the entire organization to be able to receive Coco and become the judicial custodian of the specimen. There, the monkey is recovering the brightness of its eyes.

Although many consider that today is a day to celebrate the resolution of the Buenos Aires Justice, it is also a day to think about the urgent need to change the Civil and Penal codes so that animals stop being things.