Animal rights and human rights - an impossible equation?

This chapter identifies the potential and limits of international human rights law regarding the rights of animals. It argues that the avenues available to protect animals within the human rights regime are fragmented and often indirect, but they nevertheless do exist. By using the European human rights system as an example, the chapter shows how human rights have been able to adjust themselves to new demands and changing perceptions of rights. The idea of a dynamic interpretation of rights is found to be particularly useful to support the purposes of animal rights. In addition, the rights of future generations, as well as the concept of dignity, can offer important points of reference for those advancing the rights of animals. The chapter concludes that contemporary international human rights law has its limits in this context, but the obstacles do not have to be insurmountable: the art of lawyering can be progressive.