Farm Animals

Farmed Pig AMR and Welfare Link

Reducing antimicrobial resistance in pig farming requires addressing the welfare conditions that necessitate antibiotic use.

Key Facts

High antibiotic use correlates with poor welfare conditions
Farms with good biosecurity and housing use significantly less antibiotic
Post-weaning diarrhoea is largely preventable through welfare improvement
Zinc oxide has been banned in the EU due to environmental concerns
Addressing root welfare causes reduces both AMR risk and animal suffering

Welfare Considerations

Antimicrobial resistance and animal welfare are connected through the same root causes: poor housing and management create disease requiring antibiotics. Addressing welfare deficits reduces antibiotic use, slowing resistance development.

What You Can Do

Support welfare improvement programmes linked to antibiotic reduction
Advocate for welfare-based approaches to AMR reduction
Choose pork from farms with documented low antibiotic use