Animal welfare science is increasingly focused on identifying and promoting positive experiences in animals, moving beyond simply minimising suffering.
The shift from welfare as harm reduction to welfare as positive experience promotion has transformed both research and practice. Qualitative Behaviour Assessment allows trained observers to score positive and negative welfare states from ethological signals. Cognitive bias tests reveal that animals in good conditions show optimistic decision-making. Providing animals with behavioural challenges they can overcome — agency and control — is now recognised as a fundamental welfare need.