Reviewing progress in global animal welfare and identifying future priorities helps direct effort toward the most impactful improvements across species and systems.
Global animal welfare progress has accelerated in recent years through the combination of improved scientific understanding, effective advocacy, corporate commitment and some legislative progress. The most significant remaining challenges include the welfare of the approximately 80 billion land animals in intensive farming, the estimated one trillion or more aquatic animals farmed and caught annually, and the vast but uncertain welfare dimension of wild animals. Future priorities include strengthening fish and invertebrate welfare frameworks, accelerating corporate commitment implementation, advancing wild animal welfare science, and ensuring effective global enforcement of existing welfare standards. The trajectory of progress is positive but the scale of remaining welfare challenge is enormous.