Access to veterinary care is unequally distributed. The welfare implications of this inequity — for both companion animals and livestock — represent a significant but underappreciated welfare challenge.
Veterinary care inequity means that animals belonging to lower-income owners systematically receive less care — delayed presentation of illness, untreated chronic conditions, and more frequent euthanasia due to cost rather than welfare necessity. This creates a two-tier welfare system where animal welfare correlates with owner income rather than animal need. In livestock farming, inadequate veterinary access causes welfare harms from untreated disease, poor pain management in routine procedures, and delayed diagnosis of serious conditions. Community animal health worker programmes in developing countries — training paraveterinary workers in basic care — have improved livestock welfare significantly in resource-limited settings.