New York, NY – New York State Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas and State Senator Jabari Brisport have introduced legislation, Johari’s Law (A8177/S7284), which would prohibit the use of psychoactive drugs by zoos in order to force animals to be procreated with. On June 11th, 2021 the New York Times published, “Modern Zoos are Not Worth the Moral Cost” which uncovered how psychoactive drugs are administered to animals in zoos, in order to manage their various reactions to captivity. In their article they recounted that “when a female gorilla named Johari kept fighting off the male she was placed with, the zoo dosed her with Prozac until she allowed him to mate with her.”

This legislation would provide protections to animals such as Johari and prevent institutions from facilitating sexual violence by using drugs meant to treat mental health conditions. The legislators argue that mating and reproduction should not be forced through the use of drugs. The bill is supported by several animal rights groups that were equally disturbed to learn about the news related to Johari.

“What happened to Johari is state sanctioned sexual violence on vulnerable animals who are harmed because of our capitalistic desire to entertain people at the expense of other species,” said Assemblymember González-Rojas. “Breeding is a natural process that should not be forced by the use of psychoactive drugs. Animals deserve our protection and that is especially the case for those in the captivity of zoos.”

Senator Jabari Brisport said "Drugging anyone – human or non-human – to force sex on them is not okay and should not be legally sanctioned. It’s as simple as that."

“The fact that zoos are drugging animals in order to breed them demonstrates just how abusive these archaic institutions are both physically and psychologically for non-human animals,” said Matthew Dominguez, Political Advisor for Voters For Animal Rights, “We applaud Sen. Brisport and Asm. González-Rojas for introducing this important bill that seeks to end the repulsive practice of drugging animals for reproductive purposes at Zoos in New York."

“The cycle of reproduction and exploitation within these animal prisons must come to an end. The use of mind-altering drugs to subdue unwilling animals into reproduction is an abhorrent practice. Thank you, Senator Brisport and Assembly Member González-Rojas, for introducing this legislation to prohibit the use of psychoactive drugs to force zoo animals to procreate,” said Shannon Mann, Campaigns Director for Last Chance For Animals.

“The practice of forced breeding by zoos is abhorrent in and of itself, but adding to this the use of psychoactive drugs during the process is a new level of cruelty and inhumanity,'' said Claire LaFrance, Communications Director at Four Paws. The fact that these facilities have sunk this low illustrates just how desperate they are for financial gains and how detrimental captivity is for wild animals. Furthermore, these invasive medications and subsequent births in captivity do nothing for the conservation or protection of species in their natural environments and prove completely contradictory to true species and biodiversity protection.”

Edita Birnkrant, Executive Director of NYCLASS said, “Wild animals held captive in zoos suffer terribly – Johari’s Law would end the abhorrent cruelty of New York zoos dosing animals with psychoactive drugs in order to force them to procreate. NYCLASS applauds Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas for helping make New York more humane by introducing Johari’s Law, and we strongly urge its passage.”