Modern pig welfare science is moving beyond measuring the absence of negative states toward actively assessing positive welfare — the presence of pleasure, curiosity, comfort, and play that constitute a good life.
The shift toward positive welfare assessment represents a maturation of animal welfare science that acknowledges animals can experience genuine pleasures and satisfactions, not just avoid suffering. For pigs — highly intelligent, social, curious animals — a welfare-positive life includes opportunities to explore, play, root in substrate, engage in social interactions, and experience the satisfaction of problem-solving. Measuring positive welfare in farm settings is technically feasible using validated tools, and progressive welfare schemes are beginning to incorporate positive indicators alongside traditional health and injury metrics. The practical implication is that meeting a pig's needs is not merely about preventing disease and injury but about providing conditions in which the animals can genuinely thrive and express the full range of their behavioural and cognitive capacities.