Buddhist traditions across Asia have long engaged with animal welfare through principles of non-harm (ahimsa) and compassion for all sentient beings, with modern Buddhist welfare advocacy drawing on these principles to address contemporary farming practices.
Buddhist philosophical traditions provide a long-established ethical framework for animal welfare that emphasizes sentience, suffering, and the moral responsibility to reduce harm to all conscious beings. The engagement of Buddhist communities with contemporary animal welfare issues — from factory farming to wildlife trade — extends ancient principles into modern contexts. Buddhist welfare advocacy has been particularly effective in Southeast and East Asian contexts where religious authority carries significant cultural weight.