Antimicrobial resistance driven partly by livestock antibiotic use threatens both human health and the welfare of animals who depend on effective antibiotics for pain management and disease treatment.
Antibiotic stewardship in livestock creates a necessary tension: animals deserve effective treatment for bacterial disease and pain, yet overuse of antibiotics creates resistance that ultimately threatens the effectiveness of treatment for all animals and humans. Responsible stewardship resolves this tension by using antibiotics strategically — for confirmed bacterial disease with appropriate agents, at correct doses, for appropriate durations — while investing in the welfare improvements that reduce antibiotic need in the first place. Better housing, reduced stocking density, vaccination programmes, and improved biosecurity reduce infection rates. When illness occurs, accurate diagnosis and targeted treatment preserves antibiotic efficacy while providing welfare-positive treatment. The welfare stakes of AMR are direct: a post-antibiotic world means effective pain management and disease treatment become impossible for animals as well as humans.