Welfare of Animals in Animal Welfare Science Research

Animal welfare science is itself an academic discipline that produces the evidence base for welfare improvements across all contexts, and its support is essential for continued progress.

Key Facts

Animal welfare science emerged as a distinct field in the 1960s-70s with work by Brambell, Dawkins, and Broom
The journal Animal Welfare has been published since 1992 and covers all species and contexts
Welfare science uses behavioral, physiological, and cognitive methods to assess animal subjective experience
Leading centers include the Cambridge Centre for Animal Ethics, Newcastle Animal Welfare Group, and Colorado State
Applied welfare research directly informs regulatory standards, certification requirements, and industry practices

Welfare Considerations

Animal welfare science deserves recognition as one of the highest-leverage fields for improving animal lives. Research that develops validated welfare assessment tools, identifies the key welfare needs of understudied species, or demonstrates the effectiveness of specific interventions has multiplicative impact through the policy and industry changes it enables. Consumer support for welfare science — through donations, public engagement, and advocacy for research funding — sustains the evidence base that drives all other welfare improvements.

What You Can Do

Donate to Cambridge Centre for Animal Ethics and similar animal welfare research institutions
Follow animal welfare science journals and share research findings with your network
Advocate for research funding bodies to prioritize animal welfare science in grant programs
Engage with animal welfare research findings in your advocacy work to strengthen evidence-based arguments