The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights
The Universal Declaration of Animal Rights - Comments and Intentions
For many years the French Animal Rights League (Ligue Francaise des Droits de l'Animal) has had a study group working on an original philosophical view of "Animal Rights."
The concept, not widely known outside French-speaking countries in Europe, flowed on from human rights and is similar in spirit to the Declaration of Rights of Man of 1789. The movement may also be seen as a response to the Napoleonic Code which classified animals as objects, and to special cases of cruelty, such as bullfighting, common in Mediterranean countries.
The position in France, quite different from Anglo-Saxon attitudes as it is clearly related to human rights, can best be described as rational biocentrism or extended humanism.