Animal welfare has advanced significantly over the past century, but the scale of remaining suffering requires sustained ambition and strategic focus.
The story of animal welfare progress is both encouraging and sobering. Real, significant gains have been made — legislative protections for more species, growing recognition of sentience, industry commitments to higher welfare standards, and expanding scientific understanding of animal experience. At the same time, the scale of ongoing suffering is difficult to comprehend: tens of billions of land animals, hundreds of billions of fish, and potentially trillions of invertebrates are produced under conditions that cause significant welfare impairment annually. Progress is real but insufficient relative to the scale of the challenge. Sustaining and accelerating welfare improvement requires consumer engagement, political will, scientific investment, and strategic advocacy that matches the ambition of what needs to be achieved.