
The author analyzes how the axiology underlying animal protection looks from the perspective of over 20 years from the Animal Protection Law enactment. One of the most famous judgments related to animal issues, i.e., the opinion
of the Constitutional Tribunal of 10th December 2014 on the prohibition of ritual slaughter, does not lead to optimistic conclusions. In the reasons for the judgement, the Tribunal attempted to analyze the axiological foundations of the legal protection of animals. Still, the diagnosis seems quite superficial and, above all, highly outdated. The author presents the axiological foundations of the legal protection of animals. According to many authors, virtue ethics, experiencing a renaissance in moral philosophy and not the most popular utilitarianism and deontology, can best provide such foundations.