Happy the elephant has lived in the Bronx Zoo's one-acre enclosure for forty-five years. The Nonhuman Rights Project garnered 1.5 million signatures in support of her release and personhood status, while zookeepers assure protestors that she receives extensive care and interaction. Some suggest ruling in favor of Happy's personhood would provide an opportunity to consider the improved treatment of non-human sentient beings, whereas others point out that doing so would drive up research costs and threaten to impede critical medical breakthroughs that benefit humans and animals. Should Happy be granted personhood status?

Many animal products that can be found today in stores come from a factory farm, which are industrial scale farming facilities that process large amounts of animals in a condensed area. These factory farms allow for cheap and widely available meat products across the United States, bringing necessary nutrients to American diets. However, factory farming has many negative costs, such as pollution, poor working conditions, and negative health effects to consumers.

Millions of animals are surrendered to shelters every year, many of whom are euthanized, and many of whom might have been kept by their families if affordable veterinary care were available. Frankie has always wanted to adopt a dog but doesn’t feel confident about having the time or money to properly care for a canine family member. Sam is the proud parent of Ellie, an adopted shelter dog. Sam doesn’t always have as much time to play with Ellie as they’d like but reasons Ellie is still better off bored living with Sam than she would be in a stressful shelter environment.

Xi does not eat meat because of its link to the suffering and death of animals. But she isn't sure if she can still wear animal products, like wool and leather, ethically. What if they are second-hand? What if they are environmentally responsible than their alternatives?

Biomedical experiments often use nonhuman animals as test subjects. This can lead to important scientific advances but exposes research subjects to injury/death without the possibility of consent. How should we compare the value of scientific knowledge with the wellbeing of nonhuman research subjects?

Sydney wants to own a Munchkin cat, a cat with dwarfism. Munchkin cats can experience a lot of pain and suffering. She tries for two years to adopt an existing Munchkin cat and eventually considers buying from a breeder. Is it morally permissible to breed, sell, or purchase Munchkin cats? Is it morally permissible to post pictures of the cat online if it motivates others to buy Munchkin cats as well?

First, a zoo in Denmark euthanized a healthy giraffe because it did not have room for it and it did not want it to spend the next 20 years suffering. Second, Denmark has outlawed ritual animal slaughter methods required by Muslim and Jewish tradition because they are inhumane. Should animal rights ever take precedence over religious rights?

What responsibility do humans have to treat mental illness in non-human animals? Given that animals cannot "consent" to taking drugs, is giving them psychiatric drugs immoral?

Some animal rights groups insist that some non-human animals possess high-level cognitive abilities that entitles them to legal personhood and the associated fundamental rights. What restrictions should be placed on how we can use animals?

When 56 exotic animals were set loose in Ohio, law enforcement shot and killed 49 animals, instead of using tranquilizer darts. Was this morally permissible, given that many of the animals were endangered species? Is private possession of exotic or endangered animals ethical?

Should we support the research and development of synthetic, genetically-engineered meat? It would prevent the killing of animals but hurt the animal farming industry and use animals for research.

Is increasing the number of polar bear exhibits in zoos an ethical way to attempt to save them?