The Nonhuman Rights Project is on the cusp of gaining legal rights for chimpanzees and pachyderms, and others are arguing for the personhood rights of cetaceans. The state no longer uses certain animals in experimentation. Meanwhile, CGI and cellular biology, computer modeling, and other breakthroughs may render the use of animals in entertainment and science moot. Circuses that use large animals are fading; fur is being banned in some municipalities; and zoos, too, could be reframed as places of sanctuary for animals who cannot survive in the world, instead of entertainment parks that check off charismatic megafauna for bored visitors.

This paper provides an overview of the technological and legal advances that might lead to the ending of animal experimentation (and other non-food exploitation of animals).