Modern animal welfare science increasingly focuses on positive states — happiness, play, and flourishing — not just the absence of pain. This shift has profound implications for practice.
Traditional animal welfare frameworks focused primarily on eliminating suffering — the Five Freedoms. The contemporary Five Domains Model, developed by David Mellor, explicitly includes the goal of positive mental states as a welfare objective. Research shows that animals in positive states — indicated by play behaviour, optimistic cognitive biases, and pro-social behaviour — also have better health outcomes, creating alignment between welfare and production goals. Enrichment studies demonstrate that even simple additions (balls for pigs, perches for hens, substrate for rodents) shift animals toward positive states and away from stereotypic negative behaviour. This science is translating into practical welfare standards.