Non Human Persons

This morning I heard on NPR that scientists want to give the title "Non-human persons" to dolphins because of their extreme intelligence.

"Scientists studying dolphin behavior have suggested they could be the most intelligent creatures on Earth after humans, saying the size of their brains in relation to body size is larger than that of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, and their behaviors suggest complex intelligence. One scientist said they should therefore be treated as "non-human persons" and granted rights as individuals."

I'm going to make a fortune with my new bumper sticker:








Should I add this caption to the sticker "Your Vote Counts!"? I wondered if dolphins are God's favorite animal, because apparently God's favorite person lives in the Detroit area. On the way home from taking Jon to work I saw this license plate:

GODSFAV

Then closer to our house I saw another:

F8VORED

I suppose the people who drive these vehicles believe they're non-human persons, but are they as special as dolphins?

And a final note: Be Careful What You Teach A Dolphin because, "Several examples of learning being passed on to other individuals have been observed. In one case a rescued dolphin in South Australia, taught to tail-walk during recuperation, in turn taught the trick to other wild dolphins in the Port Adelaide river estuary when she was released." And in a related story, it is reported that 9 dolphins are missing from their tanks from 6 midwestern aquariums. We are now learning that these disappearances could have been prevented. Snorky's uncle Slappy had reported yesterday to officials at Seaworld Orlando that Snorky may have learned how to "tail walk" during a recent trip to South Australian waters with the family, and he might try to teach it to captive dolphins in order to help them escape from their tanks. Marine Experts say they had planned to question Snorky, a bottlenose dolphin aboard Delta flight 800 from Orlando International Airport, as soon as it landed in Detroit. However, they decided that Detroit was too cold and depressing so they stayed in Florida.