The Legal Protection of Animals in Sporting Events and the Case of the ‘Horse Athlete’ in Italian Law

Abstract

The participation of animals in sporting activities varies across legal systems: while some jurisdictions permit competitions between animals, others impose significant restrictions. Yet even where limitations exist, a form of cooperative sport involving both humans and animals persists. In such contexts, the animal cannot be regarded as a mere tool or instrument, comparable to sporting equipment, but must be recognised as a living being capable of experiencing pain, fatigue, and risk. As early as 1965, the Brambell Report in the United Kingdom articulated the principle of the five freedoms as a foundation for animal welfare. Today, Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union acknowledges animals as sentient beings, providing a normative basis for their legal protection in sport. Over the past decades, several EU Member States have constitutionalised animal protection – sometimes expressly grounded in the recognition of sentience. In Italy, the notion of the “animal athlete” has recently entered the legislative domain, offering a new framework for the legal safeguarding of animals involved in sport. While such recognition is consistent with that State’s constitutional principles, it also prompts reflection on the enduring categorisation of the sporting animal as a res, and the potential reconfiguration of this traditional legal status.