Welfare Policy

Welfare of Animals and the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis

Routine antibiotic use in intensive animal farming drives antimicrobial resistance, creating a global health crisis that connects animal welfare to human medicine.

Key Facts

About 70% of global antibiotic production is used in food animals
Prophylactic antibiotic use is linked to faster antibiotic resistance development
Resistant infections in humans often trace to agricultural antibiotic use
Welfare improvements that reduce disease incidence also reduce antibiotic need
The EU banned prophylactic antibiotic use in 2022; the US still permits it

Welfare Considerations

Antibiotic overuse in farming is both a welfare indicator (animals need antibiotics because conditions cause disease) and a welfare threat (resistance means future animals and humans suffer untreatable infections). Improving farm conditions reduces both welfare harms simultaneously.

What You Can Do

Choose meat from farms certified to high welfare and low-antibiotic standards
Advocate for a US ban on prophylactic antibiotic use in livestock
Support research into antibiotic alternatives for disease prevention in farming
Reduce meat consumption from intensive systems to reduce demand for antibiotic use