The Intrinsic Value of Animals in the Netherlands: Empty Rhetoric or a Step Towards Animal Rights?

In the Netherlands, the law addressing animals is nowadays grounded upon the concept of ‘intrinsic value’. This Chapter analyses the use and meaning of ‘intrinsic value’ in the Netherlands. The main argument is that, rather than mere symbolic rhetoric, the recognition of intrinsic value has the potential to further develop the status of animals as different from things, which are merely objects of law. Providing a ground for direct legal obligations towards animals, intrinsic value should be understood as a way to ‘individualize’ animals in the legal system, which has certain procedural implications. Perceived as such, the recognition of intrinsic value may be regarded a first step towards legal animal rights.