Animal welfare science is increasingly focused not just on reducing suffering but on enabling animals to experience positive states including play, curiosity, and comfort.
A welfare science that only measures the absence of suffering misses half the picture. Animals have capacities for pleasure, curiosity, affection, and engagement that matter morally. Providing environments that allow these positive states — enrichment for farm animals, social bonds for group-living species, opportunities for natural behaviour — represents a meaningful upgrade from merely preventing harm. Positive welfare is increasingly measurable through validated behavioural and physiological tools.