Pigs have cognitive abilities comparable to dogs and primates, with profound implications for their welfare in barren farming environments.
Pig cognitive welfare is one of the strongest arguments for fundamental reform of intensive pig farming. Animals capable of problem-solving, social learning, and metacognition cannot experience a life of physical and cognitive deprivation without suffering. Cognitive enrichment — challenges that engage problem-solving ability — is as important to pig welfare as physical enrichment. The development of cognitive welfare indicators including judgment bias testing allows objective assessment of whether farm environments support positive or negative cognitive states. Pigs in cognitively enriched environments with straw, objects, and social complexity show positive judgment biases; pigs in barren confinement show negative biases that mirror depression in humans.