Farm Animal Welfare and Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic use in livestock is a key driver of antimicrobial resistance - reducing prophylactic use improves both human health and animal welfare.

Key Facts

Approximately 70% of all antibiotics globally are used in livestock production
Prophylactic use - treating healthy animals to prevent disease - is the primary welfare and resistance concern
The UK has reduced veterinary antibiotic use by over 50% since 2014 through voluntary and regulatory measures
Higher welfare systems with lower stocking densities and better husbandry require fewer antibiotics
Critically important antibiotics such as colistin and 3rd/4th generation cephalosporins should only be used as last resort
Farm assurance schemes increasingly include antibiotic use monitoring as a welfare indicator

Welfare Considerations

The antibiotic resistance crisis is fundamentally a welfare crisis - both for animals forced into conditions requiring routine medication, and for humans and animals who will suffer from untreatable infections in future. Improving farm animal welfare conditions is one of the most effective routes to reducing antibiotic dependency.

What You Can Do

Choose higher-welfare meat products from farms with low antibiotic use
Support RSPCA Assured and other schemes that track antibiotic use
Advocate for mandatory antibiotic use reporting linked to welfare standards
Buy from retailers with strong antibiotic stewardship supply chain policies