Positive welfare science for pigs has moved beyond measuring the absence of suffering to actively assessing joy, play, and positive affect. These advances are transforming how we evaluate and improve pig welfare in commercial and research contexts.
The science of pig positive affect represents a paradigm shift in animal welfare from harm avoidance to genuine flourishing. Traditional welfare frameworks asked: are these pigs in pain, hungry, or fearful? Positive welfare science adds a richer question: are these pigs experiencing joy, curiosity, and satisfaction? Evidence increasingly shows that pigs in enriched environments — with rooting substrates, social companions, space to run, and novel objects to investigate — not only suffer less but experience measurably more positive emotional states. This has practical implications for farm design: providing rooting materials, running space, and varied enrichment is not just harm reduction but happiness promotion. The cognitive bias paradigm, where pigs' interpretation of ambiguous signals reflects their underlying emotional state, provides a rigorous, non-invasive tool for assessing affect on commercial farms — a significant advance for welfare monitoring.