Welfare Impact Assessment Methodology

Welfare impact assessment provides systematic tools for evaluating interventions. Rigorous methodology enables organisations to prioritise actions by expected welfare benefit.

Key Facts

Welfare impact assessment borrows from health economics: DALYs adapted to animal welfare units
Rethink Priorities and the Open Philanthropy Project have developed quantitative welfare range estimates
Key variables include: number of animals affected, intensity of suffering, duration and probability
Moral uncertainty about sentience across species requires probabilistic weighting in assessments
Comparative assessments reveal that some small interventions affect enormous numbers of animals

Welfare Considerations

Rigorous welfare impact assessment enables effective prioritisation of limited resources. Without it, organisations may fund charismatic but low-impact interventions over highly effective but unfamiliar ones. The methodology requires defining the problem, identifying interventions, estimating counterfactual impact and adjusting for probability of success. Uncertainty in sentience weights and welfare range estimates should be made explicit rather than hidden. Transparent methodology enables peer review and improvement, and builds donor confidence in evidence-based giving.

What You Can Do

Study Rethink Priorities' welfare range estimates when making animal welfare giving decisions
Engage with Animal Charity Evaluators' methodology for comparing welfare impact
Ask animal welfare organisations for their welfare impact assessments before donating
Support development of standardised welfare impact metrics across the animal welfare sector
Apply impact assessment thinking to your own welfare-related decisions and advocacy