Research on pig cognitive and emotional capacities is revealing their ability to experience positive states including pleasure, playfulness and anticipatory excitement, changing welfare frameworks.
Positive pig welfare science is changing how we think about farm animal wellbeing. Pigs are not simply animals whose suffering we must minimise - they are animals capable of experiencing pleasure, excitement, playfulness and positive social emotions that we can and should facilitate. This reframes farm animal welfare from a deficit-reduction model (removing suffering) to an enhancement model (creating positive experiences). Farms that enable pigs to express play behaviour, experience positive social interactions, have enough space for exploration and show optimistic cognitive bias are providing qualitatively better welfare than farms that merely meet minimum standards. Consumer and market support for positive welfare farms rewards farmers who create conditions for pig flourishing.