Antibiotic use in livestock production has welfare, public health, and antimicrobial resistance implications that are closely connected.
Antibiotic use in livestock farming is intimately connected to animal welfare in two ways. First, the overuse of antibiotics — particularly prophylactic use in groups to prevent disease in overcrowded conditions — is both a symptom of poor welfare environments and a contributor to antimicrobial resistance that threatens the effectiveness of treatment for sick animals and humans alike. Second, as effective antibiotics become fewer due to resistance, animals with diseases that were previously treatable face increased suffering from untreated or treatment-resistant infections. The relationship is circular: poor welfare environments drive antibiotic use, antibiotic overuse drives resistance, resistance reduces treatment effectiveness, and ineffective treatment causes greater animal suffering. Improving welfare to reduce disease incidence is the most sustainable solution, addressing both the welfare and antimicrobial resistance problems simultaneously.