Modern animal welfare science increasingly recognizes that good welfare involves positive states — pleasure, engagement, and positive emotions — not merely the absence of negative experiences.
Positive welfare represents a paradigm shift in how we think about animal welfare. Preventing pain and fear — the traditional welfare focus — is necessary but not sufficient for good welfare. An animal that is not hungry, not sick, and not fearful but has nothing interesting to do, no social engagement, and no opportunity for exploration or play is not in good welfare — it is in neutral welfare at best. The aspiration of good animal welfare is lives worth living: animals that experience positive states regularly, engage actively with their environments, and have opportunities for species-typical behaviors that are intrinsically rewarding.