U ovom se radu u bioetičkoj perspektivi sagledava odnos čovjeka i životinje, s naglaskom na suvremenim bioetičkim teorijama u kojima se kritizira specistički pristup. U
tom smislu, objašnjava se pojam „specizam“, pozivajući se ponajprije na radove Petera Singera, a potom se ukazuje na razlike između starospecizma, novospecizma i nespecizma,
prema razdiobi Joan Dunayer. Temeljno specističko stajalište za sobom povlači mnoge nehumane postupke spram ne-ljudskih živih bića, koji se svakodnevno provode. Sukladno tome, u radu se obrađuju kako načelna pitanja o jednakosti životinja, njihovu moralnom statusu, osobnosti i pravima, tako i različiti načini iskorištavanja životinja u područjima ljudske prehrane, znanstvenih istraživanja i zabave.The topic of this work is the relationship between human and animal, which is considered from bioethical perspective, especially contemporary bioethical theories which are critically oriented towards speciesism. In that sense, the notion of “speciesism” is explained, mostly according to Peter Singer, as well as the differences between old speciesism, new speciesism and non-speciesism, according to Joan Dunayer. Basic speciesist standpoint implies many inhumane practices regarding non-human living beings, which are carried out on a daily basis. This, in this work are elaborated both general issues of the equality of animals, their moral status, personality and rights, and different ways of their exploitation in the fields of human nutrition, scientific research and amusement