Welfare Science

Pig Welfare and Common Values

Finding common ground between farmers, consumers, and advocates on pig welfare to drive effective improvement.

Key Facts

Most pig farmers care about their animals and report genuine concern for welfare
Consumer surveys show high majority support for farm animal welfare improvement
Common values including avoiding unnecessary suffering can bridge farmer-advocate divides
Confrontational advocacy approaches can harden resistance without changing systems
Collaborative approaches with industry have achieved welfare improvements in several countries

Welfare Considerations

Effective pig welfare improvement requires finding common ground between stakeholders who share more values than conflicts. Most people involved in pig farming and food systems agree that unnecessary suffering should be prevented. Building on shared values achieves more than adversarial approaches.

What You Can Do

Engage respectfully with farmers and industry on shared values around animal welfare
Support organizations that build collaborative relationships to drive welfare change
Recognize and amplify examples of farmers who have improved welfare as models for others