Animal Welfare in Zoonotic Disease Management

Zoonotic disease management — controlling diseases that spread between animals and humans — sometimes involves mass culling that raises significant animal welfare concerns.

Key Facts

Avian influenza outbreaks have resulted in the culling of hundreds of millions of birds in recent years
COVID-19 led to the culling of approximately 17 million mink in Denmark in 2020
Foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks have involved culls of millions of cattle, sheep, and pigs
Culling methods used in zoonotic disease response are often insufficiently welfare-screened in emergencies
Vaccination programs can reduce or eliminate the need for culling in some disease scenarios

Welfare Considerations

Mass culling during zoonotic disease outbreaks represents one of the most severe acute welfare emergencies in animal agriculture. The scale is staggering — hundreds of millions of birds killed during H5N1 outbreaks, millions of mink in a single country during COVID-19. Emergency conditions often mean that welfare-optimal killing methods are not used, resulting in suffering at extraordinary scale. Vaccination programs, when available and effective, can prevent both the disease spread and the culling welfare burden. Pre-emptive welfare planning for zoonotic disease scenarios — including validated killing methods and their supplies — is a welfare priority that is often neglected until crises occur.

What You Can Do

Advocate for zoonotic disease emergency planning that includes welfare-optimal culling protocols
Support research into vaccines that reduce or eliminate the need for mass culling
Engage with One Health frameworks that integrate animal welfare into zoonotic disease response
Support international standards for humane emergency culling methods
Choose animal products from systems with better disease surveillance and biosecurity