The Supreme Court of Colorado dismissed the lawsuit regarding the release of five sloths from the zoo, stating that sloths are not people and therefore do not have the same rights to freedom as humans.
Judge of the Supreme Court Mary Borkent stated that the judicial process in the state applies only to humans and not to wild animals, regardless of their intellectual, psychological, or social development.
Animal rights organizations asserted that sloths have a right to freedom because they are emotionally complex and intelligent creatures that are effectively in captivity in the zoo.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, Shayen Mountain Zoo declared the lawsuit unprecedented, calling it "baseless" and accusing the group of wasting time and money on a case that has no basis.
Representatives of the animal rights group stated that their goal was not to bring a case for collecting evidence, but rather to expose how the judicial system is used to finance their efforts.
