CITES, an international treaty for the protection of endangered plants and animals, tightly regulates the trade in whalebone and ivory since 1973. The Swiss organization “Animal Rights Switzerland” goes a step further by demanding the right to self-determination for animals. In 2020 the Swiss Federal Court upheld Basel’s Primates Initiative. For the first time in human history, therefore, we will soon be asked to vote on whether one specific group of animals should be accorded statutory rights.