Are you familiar with animal rights? Professor Raffaele Caterina tells us more.

Today, it is often said that animals are not things. This is enshrined, for example, in Article 641a of the Swiss Civil Code. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that they are considered and protected as persons.

Today, many different profiles highlight the legal status of animals, or rather, of certain categories of animals, clearly differentiating them from objects. These range from criminal protection against mistreatment to the regulation of pet custody in relationship breakdowns.

By examining these profiles and their theoretical assumptions, it is possible to assess whether and to what extent this status actually implies the recognition of animals as autonomous bearers of interests worthy of protection.

Raffaele Caterina has been a full professor of private law at the University of Torino since 2005; he was Director of the Department of Law at the same university from 2018 to 2024; he has been a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Torino since 2018. His main research interests concern the contribution of cognitive sciences to legal studies.