Measuring and promoting positive emotional states in pigs represents the frontier of welfare science, moving beyond preventing suffering to enabling flourishing.
Positive welfare science recognises that good welfare requires more than the absence of suffering - animals should be able to experience positive states including pleasure, curiosity, and social comfort. Measuring these states in pigs provides tools for assessing and improving welfare beyond managing problems. Creating conditions for positive pig welfare - enrichment, social stability, appropriate environmental complexity - benefits both individual animals and farm productivity.