The history of the recognition of fundamental rights has always been characterised by a progressive extension not only of the catalogue of rights but also of the community of the rights holders. In the last decades a new approach has been developed – first in philosophy and ethics, then in legal theory and practice – which proposes to extend the community of the rights holders in an unprecedented way, namely by including also non-human animals. The seminar aims at analysing, on the basis of the philosophical and legal scholarship, some of the questions raised by this approach: which reasons can be brought in favour of the attribution of rights to non-human animals? Which non-human animals should be regarded as rights holders? And of which rights? Is it reasonable to extend the recognition of rights also to non-sentient beings? Which problems are raised by the rights extension from the perspective of the theory of fundamental rights? And, finally, which are the real and possible applications in legal practice?