Effective farm biosecurity protects animal welfare by preventing disease introduction that causes suffering and requires welfare-compromising control responses.
Biosecurity is a welfare investment: every disease successfully kept off a farm prevents the suffering of animals from infection and the welfare harm of outbreak response (culling, restriction). The economic case for biosecurity aligns with the welfare case — disease prevention is cheaper than disease treatment or outbreak response. Biosecurity failures that allow disease introduction cause welfare harm that reverberates through the entire flock or herd. The welfare case for investment in biosecurity infrastructure is strong and underappreciated.