Overuse of antibiotics in livestock farming contributes to antimicrobial resistance, but the welfare implications are complex: reducing antibiotic use without improving husbandry can cause untreated animal suffering.
Antibiotic use in livestock creates a welfare tension that requires careful navigation. Overuse drives antimicrobial resistance threatening human and animal health globally. But restriction of antibiotic use without corresponding improvement in welfare standards increases the burden of untreated infection, causing pain and suffering in individual animals. The welfare-positive approach is to reduce disease incidence through better husbandry - lower stocking densities, better ventilation, species-appropriate housing - rather than relying on antibiotics as a preventive tool. Where animals are sick, prompt treatment with appropriate antibiotics is a welfare obligation. Reducing disease pressure through better welfare is both the ethically and epidemiologically preferred approach.