Global Welfare Science Priorities: Where Research Is Most Needed

A survey of the most important gaps in animal welfare science, where research investment would have the greatest impact on improving welfare outcomes for the most animals.

Key Facts

Fish welfare science receives less than 2% of animal welfare research funding despite fish constituting the majority of farmed vertebrates by number
Invertebrate welfare — covering crustaceans and insects — is among the least-developed fields despite affecting potentially trillions of individuals
Positive welfare assessment tools — measuring the presence of good states rather than just absence of suffering — are underdeveloped for most farm animal species
Wild animal welfare research is severely underfunded relative to its importance — the majority of sentient animals on Earth are wild
Welfare economics — the quantification of welfare outcomes in terms that can inform cost-benefit analysis of interventions — is a critical underdeveloped field
Translation from welfare research to practice is poorly studied — what works to disseminate welfare knowledge to farmers, consumers, and policy makers is understudied

Welfare Considerations

The animal welfare research landscape has significant gaps that limit the ability of advocates, policy makers, and producers to identify and implement the most impactful improvements. Fish and invertebrate welfare research are dramatically underfunded relative to the number of individuals affected. Positive welfare assessment remains underdeveloped for most species — we know more about measuring suffering than measuring flourishing. The translation gap between research knowledge and practice adoption is particularly important: even well-established welfare research often fails to reach the producers, consumers, and policy makers who could act on it. Directing research funding toward these gaps would have a larger welfare impact per dollar than additional research in already well-studied areas.

What You Can Do

Support organizations including Rethink Priorities, Fish Welfare Initiative, and Wild Animal Initiative that fund research in neglected welfare areas
Advocate for research funding bodies to direct a larger proportion of animal welfare grants toward fish, invertebrate, and wild animal welfare
Engage with welfare researchers about translation priorities — understanding what dissemination approaches work is itself valuable research
Donate to welfare science institutions that work across species rather than single-species advocacy organizations
Stay informed about developments in neglected welfare research areas — progress in these fields often generates the insights that shift the entire welfare landscape