Research into positive emotional states in pigs is transforming welfare assessment beyond absence of suffering. Understanding pig emotions reveals what high welfare farming must provide.
Pig positive emotion research is one of the most exciting developments in farm animal welfare science. Moving beyond the Five Freedoms framework to ask 'what positive experiences are pigs having?' raises the welfare bar from acceptable to genuinely good. Pigs are playful, curious, social animals capable of anticipation, disappointment, and apparent joy. Farming systems that provide for these emotional needs deliver not just absence of suffering but genuine positive welfare. The science is clear; the challenge is translating it into standards and practice across commercial farming.