Livestock Antibiotic Stewardship: Protecting Future Welfare Through Responsible Use

Responsible antibiotic use in livestock protects the long-term effectiveness of these medicines for both animal and human welfare while addressing the immediate welfare of sick animals.

Key Facts

The Netherlands reduced veterinary antibiotic use by 64% between 2009 and 2019 through mandatory stewardship programs without significant welfare deterioration
UK veterinary antibiotic use declined by 55% between 2014 and 2022, demonstrating the feasibility of reduction in major livestock sectors
Critically important antibiotics for human medicine including fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins are increasingly restricted in livestock use
Antibiotic-resistant infections are projected to be the leading cause of human death globally by 2050 without action
Metaphylactic use — treating entire groups when some animals show disease — is a contested practice with welfare implications
Probiotic supplementation, improved hygiene, and vaccination programs have helped maintain animal health in herds reducing antibiotic use

Welfare Considerations

Antibiotic stewardship in livestock represents a welfare challenge operating across multiple timescales. In the short term, reducing antibiotic use without improving husbandry can increase disease and welfare harm. In the long term, the loss of antibiotic effectiveness through resistance development threatens both animal and human health in ways that would cause far greater welfare harm. The evidence from Netherlands and UK reduction programs demonstrates that strategic reduction through improved husbandry — rather than simply using fewer antibiotics while maintaining the same disease-prone conditions — can achieve significant reduction without welfare cost. This requires investment in prevention through husbandry improvement alongside stewardship restrictions on therapeutic use.

What You Can Do

Choose animal products from producers demonstrating antibiotic use reduction through husbandry improvement rather than simply reduced treatment
Support regulatory frameworks that restrict highest-priority antibiotics in livestock while investing in alternatives
Advocate for transparency in livestock antibiotic use data to enable monitoring and accountability
Support research into alternative disease prevention approaches that maintain animal health with reduced antibiotic dependency
Learn about antibiotic resistance and engage with the connection between livestock antibiotic use and human health outcomes