Intensive animal farming drives antibiotic resistance through prophylactic mass medication — a practice intrinsically linked to welfare failure and a global public health threat.
The link between animal welfare and antibiotic resistance is direct: intensive systems that cannot maintain animal health without mass medication depend on antibiotics as a substitute for adequate welfare. High stocking density, stress, poor ventilation, and social disruption increase disease susceptibility, which is then managed with prophylactic antibiotics rather than welfare improvements. Reducing prophylactic antibiotic use requires improving the underlying welfare conditions — creating a direct alignment between animal welfare and public health goals. Welfare improvement is simultaneously an antibiotic stewardship intervention.