Abstract: Animals have long been treated and arbitrarily disposed as an object of property.According to German Civil Code，“Animals are not things.They are protected by special statutes”.This makes clear to all that animals are living beings that have various relations to the human race and that they have their rights to exist in the world.But protection of animal welfare in China should be carried out without breaking the framework of laws in existence.So it is not appropriate to give animals legal status.Animal welfare protection should aim at protecting animals from avoidable sufferings and the protection should cover both domestic and wild animals.Here domestic animals include farm animals，working animals，companion animals，lab animals and animals used in entertainment.

Key words: subject, property, object, animal, animal welfare