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Why have animals traditionally been treated as legal things rather than legal persons?

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Three PETA protesters in animal masks and green clothing hold signs reading No Fur at a demonstration against fur in clothing at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea. — Animal rights A PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration in Seoul, South Korea, against the use of animals for fur in clothing.

Traditionally, animals have been categorized as "legal things" rather than "legal persons" because Western legal systems were historically built on the premise that law exists solely for the benefit of humans. This perspective, famously summarized by the Roman jurist Hermogenianus as "All law was established for men’s sake," dictates that animals exist in the law only as objects over which humans may exercise property rights.1

This status is deeply rooted in the Great Chain of Being, a hierarchical worldview that dominated Western thought for centuries. Influenced by Aristotle and the Stoics, this philosophy posited that animals were irrational beings created for human use. These ideas were integrated into Roman law and subsequently embedded into common law, establishing a framework where animals lack inherent rights and are instead treated as instruments or commodities.2

While legal systems have evolved to provide indirect protections—such as anticruelty statutes—these laws generally aim to preserve social morality or protect an owner's property interests rather than recognizing the animal as a subject with its own legal rights.13