Farm Animals

Antibiotic Resistance and Farm Animal Welfare: Linked Challenges

Antibiotic overuse in farm animals drives resistance that threatens human and animal health globally. Understanding the welfare dimension of antimicrobial stewardship is essential.

Key Facts

Agriculture accounts for approximately 70% of global antibiotic use
Prophylactic antibiotic use in intensive systems reduces infection but drives resistance
The UK has reduced veterinary antibiotic use by 55% since 2014 through stewardship programmes
Welfare improvement reduces antibiotic demand - healthy animals need fewer antibiotics
Highest-priority critically important antibiotics are increasingly restricted in veterinary use
WHO global AMR action plans include farm animal welfare as a key component

Welfare Considerations

Antibiotic stewardship and animal welfare are deeply connected. Poor welfare conditions that cause chronic stress, injury, and disease drive antibiotic demand. Improving welfare through housing, enrichment, and management reduces infection pressure and antibiotic use simultaneously. The global AMR crisis creates an additional imperative for farm welfare reform beyond the direct welfare argument. Welfare improvement and resistance reduction are aligned goals.

What You Can Do

Support farms and certification schemes with verified low antibiotic use rates
Advocate for welfare improvement as a component of antimicrobial stewardship policy
Choose meat from systems certified for responsible antibiotic use like RSPCA Assured