The relationship between human poverty and animal welfare is complex — poverty can both drive poor animal welfare through resource constraints and create dependence on animal welfare as a livelihood asset.
Animal welfare and human poverty are interconnected in ways that simple affluence-based welfare advocacy misses. Poor communities that depend on working animals for their livelihoods have strong economic incentives to maintain animal welfare. Welfare improvement in these contexts requires approaches that acknowledge the livelihood dimension and provide economically viable pathways to better animal care.