Animal Welfare Research Funding: Priorities and Gaps

Strategic investment in animal welfare research can generate disproportionate returns in welfare improvement, with some research areas severely underfunded relative to their potential impact.

Key Facts

Global animal welfare research funding is estimated at $100-200 million annually — tiny relative to the scale of animal use
Fish welfare research has grown substantially but remains underfunded relative to the billions of farmed fish
Invertebrate sentience and welfare is severely understudied despite the enormous numbers of affected individuals
Wild animal welfare research is emerging but institutionally marginalised within conservation science
Translational research connecting welfare science to practical farm implementation is a critical gap
The Open Philanthropy Project has directed significant resources toward farm animal welfare research

Welfare Considerations

Animal welfare research funding is dramatically misallocated relative to the scale of animal suffering it could address. Fish and invertebrate welfare research receives minimal funding despite affecting billions of individuals. Wild animal welfare research is institutionally marginalised. The practical translation of existing welfare science into farm management remains underfunded. Strategic investment in these underfunded areas could generate welfare improvements for billions of animals — an investment return that exceeds almost any other philanthropic opportunity in terms of suffering reduction per dollar.

What You Can Do

Donate to effective animal welfare research organisations identified by Animal Charity Evaluators
Support Rethink Priorities' research on invertebrate sentience and wild animal welfare
Advocate for governmental research funding bodies to include animal welfare as a research priority
Encourage universities to develop animal welfare science as a recognised academic discipline
Follow and share animal welfare research findings to maximise their societal impact