The animal welfare movement has achieved remarkable progress over the past century while facing enormous remaining challenges.
The trajectory of animal welfare progress is genuinely encouraging when viewed across the timescale of a century, even as the remaining challenges are immense. Legislative protections have expanded dramatically. Scientific understanding of animal sentience has advanced to the point where fish, invertebrates, and formerly dismissed species are recognized as deserving welfare consideration. Consumer awareness of animal welfare has grown substantially in many markets. Philanthropic investment in animal welfare organizations has increased significantly. Yet the scale of suffering in global food systems, wild animal populations, and research settings remains enormous. The challenge of our moment is to translate growing awareness and evidence into structural change at the pace and scale that the suffering demands.