First of all, the legal system is our way to correct wrongs in our society. One of the things that we do an awful lot of is, we assist prosecutors in prosecuting animal cruelty cases, because every state has an anti-cruelty law. We have about seven hundred attorneys around the country who volunteer, and find them expert witnesses, or we do whatever needs to be done. To try to save river otters, we tried to get the Animal Welfare Act enforced, which protects animals largely in laboratory settings or in roadside zoos. The animal has suffered the injury, but since animals aren't legally recognised, neither they nor anyone on their behalf can enforce the law.
New movements tend to be ridiculed.
We're not saying that animals should have human rights, there are rights like the right to vote that wouldn't even be appropriate for animals, but to have rights that correspond to their interests.