Positive welfare for pigs means more than preventing pain and fear - it requires providing genuine opportunities for pleasure, play, exploration, and positive social interactions.
The shift from welfare as the absence of suffering to welfare as the presence of positive experiences represents a significant evolution in farm animal welfare science. Pigs are cognitively and emotionally complex animals capable of joy, curiosity, and positive social engagement. Production systems that prevent suffering but provide no opportunities for positive experience are better than those that cause suffering - but they are not the gold standard. The most welfare-positive pig systems actively cultivate positive experiences through enrichment, social housing in stable groups, gentle handling, and environmental complexity. This positive welfare framework is more demanding but also more meaningful as a welfare aspiration.