The fight for animals started in the western part of the world. In America, it emmerged during the 1960s, together with the Women- and Civil Rights Movements. While the latter two are theoretically solved (the legal rights and equality of both women and African Americans has been declared), few really effective changes have happened concerning the treatment of animals. There are some European countries who, by now, have managed to create some serious legislation that promotes animal welfare, namely Switzerland and Austria, but as an American track student, I concentrate on the United States of America when I discuss this topic in details. In my thesis, I intend to examine and when it is possible, to compare the Hungarian and U.S. animal protecting laws on the basis or their effectiveness. In a way, I would like to disprove those who tend to think of the American society and legislation as perfection compared to Hungarian laws. There are serious shortcomings on both sides, I hope this will become obvious by the end of my thesis.