Elephant Ruled to be "On Par" With Humans

An Indian court has granted damages to the owner of an elephant killed in an auto accident because the pachyderm was “on par” with a human because it could obey commands and do tricks, etc.

Well, then the owner had better be charged with slavery, because you can’t own humans but you can elephants.

I am not saying the owner should not have been compensated for his loss, but this gets awfully close to the idea of “wrongful death.” Sure, it’s India. But it is also a denial of human exceptionalism.