Despite the scale of challenges in pig welfare, there are genuine reasons for optimism in the evidence for progress through better legislation, higher-welfare markets and improving husbandry knowledge.
Pig welfare has made genuine progress. The EU gestation crate ban, growing higher-welfare markets, and improving enrichment standards represent real welfare gains for tens of millions of animals. Research continues to reveal pig cognition and emotional complexity that strengthens the ethical case for better protection. The task is accelerating this progress to scale commensurate with the number of pigs affected.