Antibiotic resistance driven by livestock use threatens both human and animal health, creating a welfare crisis that spans farm and hospital settings.
Animals in high-density systems that rely on preventive antibiotics often have underlying welfare problems that create the disease pressure requiring medication. The cycle of poor welfare driving disease driving antibiotic use driving resistance is a welfare-antibiotic resistance spiral. When effective antibiotics fail in food animals, treatment of serious infections becomes difficult or impossible, resulting in preventable animal suffering and death. The connection between animal welfare and antibiotic stewardship means that improving welfare conditions reduces both animal suffering and the development of resistance. Regulatory reform reducing non-therapeutic antibiotic use must be paired with welfare improvements to succeed.