Responsible antibiotic use in cattle farming is essential for both animal welfare and public health, with antimicrobial resistance driven by inappropriate use threatening the effectiveness of treatments for both animal and human disease.
Antibiotic stewardship in cattle farming connects animal welfare and public health in ways that require nuanced management rather than simple restrictions. From a welfare perspective, sick animals must receive timely and effective antibiotic treatment, and delayed treatment to minimize antibiotic use causes welfare harm by prolonging suffering. At the same time, excessive or prophylactic antibiotic use drives the emergence of resistant bacteria that ultimately reduce treatment effectiveness for both cattle diseases and human infections. The welfare-positive approach to stewardship focuses on reducing disease incidence through good housing, stress management, and vaccination, using antibiotics therapeutically when animals are sick, choosing antibiotics of appropriate spectrum and duration, and monitoring treatment outcomes to improve future management. When disease prevention is effective, less antibiotic treatment is needed, creating alignment between welfare and stewardship goals.