The Five Domains model has superseded the Five Freedoms as the leading scientific framework for assessing and improving animal welfare across all species and contexts.
The shift from Five Freedoms to Five Domains represents a fundamental advance in welfare thinking. The Five Freedoms defined welfare as the absence of negative states, creating a floor but not a ceiling for welfare aspiration. The Five Domains recognises that a good life requires positive experiences — pleasure, play, curiosity, social bonding, and environmental control — not merely the absence of suffering. This has practical implications: meeting Five Freedoms standards is insufficient if animals lack access to positive experiences that constitute a good life. The model drives welfare improvement by raising the aspiration from harm avoidance to flourishing.