ANIMAL WELFARE: POLICIES AND SOCIETY

European countries are gradually recognizing animal rights and implementing specific social policies. Particularly in Spain, the debate is intensifying with the approval of law 17/2021 on animal welfare. This research seeks to analyze the main arguments about animals as subjects of rights in our societies. The methodology consists of a systematic review of the specialized literature. The results reveal four argumentative axes. The first focuses on European and national policies that since the 1980s consider animals as sentient beings, linking their good treatment with the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) aid. The second highlights the physical and psychological benefits of the human -animal relationship. A third axis addresses the social inclusion of animals by social democratic political parties. Finally, a fourth axis emerges with the extension of the concept of citizenship to animals, led by "Zoopolis" in 2011. As main conclusions, animal welfare is seen as a revisable concept, approaching the concept of citizenship, in connection and synergy with that of social welfare.