A significant barrier to animal welfare protection in many legal systems is that animals cannot initiate legal proceedings on their own behalf - the question of legal standing for animals.
The absence of legal standing for animals means that welfare protections depend entirely on human advocates and government enforcement. When governments fail to enforce welfare law, animals have no recourse. Expanding legal standing to animals would fundamentally change their position in law from property to rights-bearing subjects. The philosophical and practical implications are significant but represent the logical extension of welfare science showing that animals have interests worthy of legal protection.