Industrial animal agriculture is a primary driver of environmental damage that in turn harms animal welfare. Understanding the agriculture-environment-welfare nexus guides more integrated advocacy approaches.
The intersection of animal agriculture and environment reveals that farmed animal welfare and wild animal welfare are connected through shared environmental harms. Industrial livestock production pollutes waterways that wild animals depend on, destroys habitat that millions of wild animals need, and drives climate change that fundamentally alters ecosystems. From a welfare perspective, the billions of wild animals displaced, poisoned, or killed by agricultural expansion and pollution represent a vast welfare harm that is external to the direct welfare of farmed animals but caused by the same systems. Effective animal welfare advocacy that addresses only the welfare of directly farmed animals misses the broader environmental welfare consequences of intensive animal agriculture. Dietary change, policy reform, and agricultural transition support are components of a comprehensive welfare response to industrial animal production.