Livestock

Livestock Welfare Auditing and Continuous Improvement

Systematic auditing is essential for verifying and improving farm animal welfare.

Key Facts

Welfare outcomes can vary enormously between farms within the same system
Animal-based measures are more reliable welfare indicators than resource-based measures
Welfare auditing requires trained auditors using standardised protocols
The Welfare Quality protocol is the most comprehensive validated welfare assessment framework

Welfare Considerations

Without systematic auditing, welfare claims on labels cannot be verified and producers with poor practice face no consequences. Robust welfare auditing using validated animal-based measures — assessing the animals themselves rather than just resources — provides the most reliable welfare information. Regular, unannounced audits with meaningful consequences for non-compliance are essential.

What You Can Do

Choose products from schemes with documented, unannounced auditing
Support campaigns for mandatory welfare auditing standards
Advocate for animal-based measures to be prioritised in welfare schemes
Back development of digital monitoring tools to reduce auditing costs