Pigs are among the most cognitively sophisticated farm animals, with intelligence comparable to dogs, making cognitive enrichment an important but often overlooked welfare need.
Research consistently demonstrates that pigs are highly intelligent animals capable of learning, problem-solving, and complex social behaviour. This cognitive sophistication makes the barren environments typical of intensive pig farming particularly problematic: animals with the cognitive capacity to solve puzzles and remember solutions are housed in environments that offer nothing to investigate or manipulate. The result is frustration, boredom, and redirected behaviours including tail biting and aggression. Cognitive enrichment — rooting substrates, foraging challenges, novel objects, training interactions — addresses this need directly. Welfare frameworks that recognise cognitive needs as welfare requirements, not optional extras, would transform expectations for pig housing and management.