Course description

The aim of the Course “Comparative Animal Protection” is to strengthen, deepen and raise the animal welfare basics learned in the first year to a level that provides internationally competitive knowledge. The rise of ethical consumption and the constant change in society’s attitude towards animals, the increasingly differentiated and stricter domestic and international legal environment, and the close connection with nature protection and biodiversity conservation have made animal protection an extremely important field in our time, which can only be correctly interpreted in a multidisciplinary approach. In the framework of the “Comparative Animal Protection” course, the students of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest gain insight into the international trends and best practices in animal welfare, examine current “hot-spots” and conflicts of animal welfare, understand the operation and cooperation of different actors of animal welfare at the system level, and get to know the relevant constitutional, civil and criminal law institutions and their practical application. Students gain a broad, critical, integrative perspective, while examining animal protection and the phenomenon of animal cruelty also from the perspectives of related disciplines, such as psychology, criminology, sociology, philosophy, or communication. The Course pays special attention to the international tendencies and the most up-to-date solutions of the 21st century animal protection.

Lectures theme