Legal Status of Animals in the Context of Their Biological Categorization

Keywords: legal status of animals, awareness of self, animal protection

English abstract: Polish legal regulations protecting animals are inconsistent. The Act of 21 August 1997 on Animal Protection and the Act of 15 January 2015 on the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific or Educational Purposes accord protection to different categories of animals. These regulations should be harmonized due to the underlying values. In addition, the current model of animal protection in Poland requires consideration. Polish regulations protecting animals have not been preceded by a reflection on the special features of some groups of animals. In particular, Polish law does not take account of the fact that some animals have higher cognitive functions, including non-linguistic ability to recognize themselves – awareness of self. The article characterizes the phenomenon of animal self-awareness, which should be relevant in discussions on the legal status of some animals.