The universal declaration of animal rights

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.