Antibiotic use in livestock is both a welfare tool and a driver of resistance. Balancing effective treatment of sick animals with responsible use to preserve antibiotic efficacy is a critical welfare and public health challenge.
Antibiotic stewardship in livestock creates genuine welfare tensions. Sick animals need treatment and denying effective antibiotics to animals in pain causes unnecessary suffering. However, routine prophylactic use of antibiotics to prevent disease in systems where disease pressure is too high for antibiotic-free production is both welfare-problematic and resistance-driving. True stewardship means improving systems so that disease occurrence is reduced, treating sick individuals promptly when disease occurs, and avoiding preventive use. This requires investment in better housing, management and disease prevention - investments that improve welfare and reduce antibiotic dependency simultaneously. The EU ban on routine preventive antibiotic use has demonstrated that major reduction is achievable without welfare compromise when alternative management strategies are implemented.