" as the Rutgers University legal scholar Gary Francione has done in his 2008 book Animals as Persons, where he outlined in logical detail why sentient nonhumans should legally be regarded as persons: “They are conscious; they are subjectively aware; they have interests; they can suffer. No characteristic other than sentience is required for personhood. "

― Michael Shermer , The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom