The relationship between antibiotic use in livestock and animal welfare is complex - antibiotics treat welfare-relevant disease, but overuse contributes to resistance threatening both animal and human health.
The antibiotic use debate creates a welfare tension that is frequently obscured in public health discussions. Animals in systems with high disease prevalence require antibiotics to prevent suffering - a blanket reduction in use without addressing the underlying causes of disease creates welfare harm through untreated illness. However, prophylactic and growth-promoting antibiotic use creates resistance that threatens the ability to treat disease in animals and humans in the future. The welfare-positive path requires addressing the disease drivers that make antibiotic dependency necessary - crowding, inadequate biosecurity, stress-induced immunosuppression, and poor hygiene - rather than simply reducing antibiotic use targets. Good antibiotic stewardship and good welfare practice are ultimately aligned.