Goat production is growing globally for dairy and meat, with welfare challenges including disbudding, housing, and the undervalued status of goats in welfare regulation.
Goat welfare suffers partly from regulatory neglect — goats receive less scrutiny than cattle, pigs, or poultry in most welfare frameworks despite having complex behavioral and social needs. Disbudding without anaesthesia is painful and alternatives including anaesthetic blocks and non-surgical dehorning approaches are available but underused. Goats are highly social, explorative animals that need climbing opportunities, complex environments, and social companions. Intensive dairy goat systems that house animals in barren concrete pens deny these needs. Welfare improvement requires both regulatory attention and consumer demand for welfare-certified goat products.