Livestock Antibiotic Stewardship and Welfare

How responsible antibiotic use in livestock protects both animal welfare and public health.

Key Facts

Approximately 80% of all antibiotics used globally are administered to livestock, raising antimicrobial resistance concerns
Antibiotics treat infections that cause significant animal suffering — their availability is a welfare resource
Prophylactic antibiotic use in healthy animals to prevent disease in crowded conditions is a welfare and resistance concern
The EU banned preventive antibiotic use in 2022; the US has restrictions on growth promotion uses but maintains preventive use
High-welfare farms with lower stocking densities and better conditions use antibiotics less frequently without worse health outcomes

Welfare Considerations

Antibiotic stewardship in livestock sits at the intersection of animal welfare and human public health. Antibiotics are welfare tools when used to treat bacterial infections causing animal suffering — their availability and appropriate use is a welfare resource. The welfare and public health problem arises from prophylactic use: administering antibiotics routinely to prevent disease in animals who are healthy but living in conditions that make disease inevitable. This practice maintains animal welfare in inadequate systems rather than addressing the underlying conditions, and drives antimicrobial resistance that threatens human and animal medicine globally. The welfare-positive path is improving housing and husbandry conditions so that preventive antibiotics are unnecessary — a win for both animal welfare and antibiotic effectiveness.

What You Can Do

Support food companies and producers with documented antibiotic stewardship programs and reduction targets
Choose certified products from producers who publish antibiotic use data and demonstrate declining trend
Advocate for prophylactic antibiotic use bans in livestock production globally, following EU standards
Support improved housing and husbandry standards that reduce disease incidence and antibiotic necessity
Follow developments in antibiotic resistance monitoring to understand the connection between livestock use and human health