Positive welfare science for pigs moves beyond measuring disease and injury to assess play, exploration, social bonding, and other indicators of good mental states.
Traditional pig welfare assessment focused on lesions, injuries, and mortality. Positive welfare science asks what good looks like, not just what the absence of bad looks like. Pigs that play, explore, forage, and engage in social bonding are experiencing positive mental states. Enrichment, space, and management quality that support these behaviours create conditions for genuine welfare rather than mere absence of observable suffering.