Dairy goat production is growing globally as demand for goat milk products increases; welfare standards for dairy goats are less developed than for dairy cattle but share many comparable challenges.
Dairy goat welfare has attracted less policy attention than dairy cattle welfare despite comparable scale and comparable welfare challenges. The same issues — painful routine procedures, kid separation, metabolic disease, foot problems, and housing that restricts natural behaviour — affect dairy goats at significant scale. Growing consumer interest in goat dairy products creates market leverage for welfare improvement through certification and informed purchasing.