Dairy goat farming has expanded globally as consumer interest in alternative dairy products grows, but welfare standards for goats lag significantly behind those for dairy cattle in most producing countries.
Dairy goat welfare shares many of the challenges of dairy cattle welfare — kid separation, disbudding pain, indoor confinement — but receives far less regulatory and consumer attention. The rapid growth of goat dairy as an "artisanal" or "natural" alternative to cow dairy often carries an implication of better welfare that is not necessarily supported by actual production practices. Disbudding goats without pain relief is as painful and as preventable as equivalent practices in cattle; the mere fact that goats are smaller does not reduce the welfare significance of the pain. Consumer interest in goat dairy products creates an opportunity to establish stronger welfare standards at the foundation of a growing industry rather than retrofitting them onto established practice.