Prairie dogs are keystone ecosystem engineers whose welfare is inseparably connected to the health of prairie ecosystems and the survival of species that depend on their colonies.
Prairie dog welfare is inseparable from their ecological function: these are animals whose presence or absence determines the welfare of hundreds of other species across entire grassland ecosystems. An intact prairie dog colony supporting burrowing owls, ferrets, and dozens of other dependent species represents welfare benefit distributed across a community of species. A poisoned or plague-killed colony represents welfare harm that cascades through the entire dependent community. Individual prairie dogs face welfare challenges from predation, weather, and disease — the inherent welfare costs of living as a colonial ground squirrel surrounded by predators. Plague in particular causes welfare harm at colony scale that is dramatic in its speed and totality: entire colonies dying within weeks from a disease to which they have no evolved resistance.