Animal Welfare Science

Positive Welfare: Beyond Absence of Suffering

Animal welfare science is expanding beyond preventing negative states to actively promoting positive experiences and flourishing in animals.

Key Facts

Positive welfare states include play, exploration, and positive social interactions
Affective states in animals can be assessed using cognitive bias tests
Some farms now explicitly measure positive welfare indicators in their assessments
Welfare Five Domains model includes positive experiences as a key domain
Chickens display play behavior when given appropriate conditions

Welfare Considerations

A welfare framework that only prevents suffering is incomplete. Animals are capable of experiencing pleasure, joy, and positive social bonds, and good welfare should actively promote these states. This shift is transforming how farms, zoos, and companion animal keepers approach management, with positive implications for both animal welfare and human-animal relationships.

What You Can Do

Actively create opportunities for play and positive experiences for companion animals
Support farms and zoos that explicitly measure and promote positive welfare
Advocate for welfare labelling to include positive welfare indicators
Donate to research organizations investigating positive welfare states in animals