Welfare science is identifying the most impactful research directions for improving animal lives — from invertebrate sentience to scale-up of proven farm interventions.
Animal welfare science has undergone remarkable development since its formal founding in the mid-20th century and is positioned for continued progress addressing its most important remaining questions. Invertebrate sentience remains among the most consequential open questions given the enormous numbers of insects, crustaceans, and molluscs affected by human activity. Developing and validating welfare assessment tools for species beyond familiar vertebrates requires cross-disciplinary collaboration between ethologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers. Translating research into practice through effective policy, certification schemes, and consumer education represents a continuing implementation challenge. The field increasingly recognizes that improving animal welfare at scale requires not just scientific evidence but behavioral insights about consumer decision-making, regulatory economics, and producer incentive structures. The ambition to achieve a world where animal suffering is actively minimized requires sustained investment in both research and implementation.