The science of pain management in pigs and how effective pharmacological interventions improve welfare in farm settings.
Pig pain pharmacology has advanced significantly, providing producers with practical tools to address pain that were not previously available or accessible. The most significant welfare gains have come from routine use of local anesthesia and NSAIDs for painful procedures including castration, tail docking, and tooth clipping — procedures that are common in intensive systems and have historically been performed without any pain management. The evidence that pain management improves both welfare and production outcomes (reduced post-procedural behavioral disruption, faster return to eating, improved growth) provides an economic rationale alongside the welfare case. Regulatory requirements for pain relief at mutilations are expanding across the EU, driving industry adoption. The welfare gap that remains is between what is legally required and best practice in pain management across all painful farming procedures.