Antibiotic use in farming drives antimicrobial resistance that threatens both animal and human health. Stewardship programs reduce unnecessary use while maintaining animal welfare.
Antibiotic stewardship in animal agriculture is simultaneously a public health imperative and a welfare issue. The overuse of antibiotics in farming drives resistance that eventually leaves sick animals — and sick people — with fewer effective treatment options. When resistance renders an antibiotic ineffective for treating a painful infection in an animal, the welfare consequence is direct. The long-term welfare solution to antibiotic overuse is not restriction alone but the welfare improvements that eliminate the conditions driving antibiotic dependence: better housing, lower stocking densities, improved biosecurity, vaccination programs, and prompt veterinary attention to emerging disease. Countries that have successfully reduced agricultural antibiotic use demonstrate that this is achievable without significant animal welfare compromise when underlying farming practices improve in parallel.