Farmed Animals

Promoting Positive Welfare States in Pigs

Positive welfare science identifies specific states including play, exploration, and social bonding that indicate good welfare in pigs.

Key Facts

Play behaviour in pigs indicates positive affect and is more frequent in enriched environments
Pigs engage in social play including chasing and play fighting which is distinct from aggression
Positive anticipation of food rewards is an indicator of positive emotional state in pigs
Pigs show optimistic cognitive bias when in positive welfare states
Environmental enrichment and good management promote positive welfare states in pigs

Welfare Considerations

Positive welfare science for pigs moves beyond the prevention of suffering to actively promoting good experiences. Pigs in good welfare states show play behaviour, social bonding, and optimistic cognitive bias — measurable indicators that life is genuinely good. Housing systems and management practices that enable these positive states represent an ambitious welfare standard that exceeds merely avoiding obvious cruelty.

What You Can Do

Support welfare standards that assess positive welfare indicators in pigs
Choose pork from systems that demonstrate active promotion of positive pig welfare
Advocate for enrichment requirements that enable play and social behaviour
Raise awareness that pig welfare means more than the absence of obvious suffering
Support research into positive welfare indicators and how to promote them in pig production