An animal rights group lost a lawsuit it filed against a New York couple who kept a 26-year-old chimpanzee in a cage. The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, in a unanimous decision, said since the chimpanzee is an animal, it does not have human rights.

The Nonhuman Rights Project contend that because Tommy, the chimp, lives in what the group perceives as inhumane condition, it should be freed from its cage since it should have the same legal protection as humans, reports New York Daily News.

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The Thursday ruling by the court dashed hopes of the Florida-based group to get a landmark decision that primates also have habeas corpus rights.

Steven Wise, founder of the group, even presented expert testimony that chimps show human traits such as self-awareness and self-determination.

In rejecting the argument of the group, Judge Karen Peters pointed to the lack of precedence in state or English common law that animals should be treated as persons. If there would be such laws, it would also grant them obligations and duties that animals are not capable of fulfilling.

"In our view, it is this incapability to bear any legal responsibilities and societal duties that renders it inappropriate to confer upon chimps the legal rights - such as the fundamental right to liberty protected by the writ of habeas corpus - that have been afforded to human beings," Wfae.org quotes part of the court ruling.

However, it does not necessarily mean that Tommy is defenseless because animals have legal protection under some laws such as New York's than ban keeping primates as pets, the court said.

Patrick and Diane Lavery, the owners of Tommy, insist that the chimp's living environment is well-maintained and comfortable.

Wise said he would elevate the case to the Court of Appeals.

Tagschimpanzees, Human Rights, Tommy the chimp, New York court, Nonhuman Rights Project, animal rights