Welfare auditing in the pork industry is evolving, but significant gaps between stated standards and farm-level reality remain a persistent challenge.
Welfare auditing in the pork industry faces fundamental tensions between commercial cost pressures and genuine animal welfare improvement. Many audit schemes check input measures (space allowances, bedding type) but struggle to capture the day-to-day reality of animal experience. Outcome-based auditing - assessing the animals themselves for signs of injury, disease, or fear - is more reliable but more expensive and time-consuming. CCTV has proven highly effective at improving slaughter welfare. The biggest welfare gains come when audit failures have meaningful consequences - de-listing from supply chains. Consumer demand for transparency and genuinely higher welfare products is the most powerful driver of meaningful audit improvement.