Positive welfare science has developed validated indicators that measure good pig welfare beyond the absence of suffering. These tools are transforming how welfare is assessed and improved in commercial pig farming.
The shift from measuring only negative welfare indicators (injuries, disease, stereotypies) to including positive welfare indicators represents a conceptual advance with practical implications. A farm that eliminates obvious suffering but provides no opportunities for positive states is meeting a minimal welfare threshold rather than genuinely good welfare. Positive welfare assessment changes the question from "are animals suffering?" to "are animals thriving?" — a meaningfully higher bar. Farms that achieve genuinely positive welfare states create environments where pigs play, explore, and show relaxed body postures that indicate comfort. These outcomes require investment in space, enrichment, and management quality that goes beyond minimum compliance, and assessment tools that measure positive states motivate this higher standard.