Experts agree that poor animal welfare in wet markets and intensive farms increases the risk of "spillover" events, where viruses jump from animals to humans (similar to COVID-19).
Legally, animals exist in a strange limbo. They are no longer things like a chair—anti-cruelty laws grant them some protection. But they are not persons with enforceable rights. The Nonhuman Rights Project has been fighting for habeas corpus (the right not to be unlawfully detained) for chimpanzees and elephants. In a landmark 2022 case, an Argentine court recognized an orangutan named Sandra as a "non-human person" with the right to freedom from a zoo. Experts agree that poor animal welfare in wet