Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD) is an unusual transmissible cancer causing severe welfare suffering and threatening Tasmanian devil populations.
DFTD creates profound individual welfare suffering. Affected devils develop facial tumors that grow to obstruct eating and breathing, causing slow death from starvation, organ failure, and infection. The disease trajectory typically takes months, during which affected animals experience significant pain and distress. Conservation programs have developed population-level insurance groups, but individual welfare remains severely compromised for diseased animals. Euthanasia of severely affected animals in accessible populations can reduce welfare suffering at the cost of conservation numbers.