Veterinary education shapes the welfare standards of billions of animals — yet training in behavioral welfare, pain recognition, and ethical decision-making has historically been insufficient.
Veterinarians are the primary professionals responsible for animal welfare outcomes across all sectors. Their training in pain assessment, behavioral welfare, and welfare-ethics reasoning directly determines the quality of care animals receive. Gaps in welfare education — particularly for farm animals and exotic species — translate into millions of animals receiving inadequate pain management and welfare assessment across the profession.