Animal welfare challenges in lower-income countries include working animal suffering, slaughter without stunning, and limited enforcement. Understanding context-specific solutions is essential.
Animal welfare improvement in developing countries must be understood in economic and cultural context. Farmers who depend on working animals for their livelihoods have strong incentives to care for them but may lack veterinary access, appropriate equipment, or knowledge of welfare-positive practices. Culturally embedded practices around slaughter, animal use, and human-animal relationships require respectful engagement rather than external imposition. The most effective welfare improvement programmes in these contexts work with local communities, integrate welfare with livelihood support, and build local veterinary capacity. Economic development alone does not automatically produce welfare improvement — cultural and regulatory change is also needed.