Welfare Science

Animal Welfare: Measuring Progress Over Time

Developing robust metrics to measure animal welfare progress over time is essential for holding governments, industries, and advocacy organisations accountable.

Key Facts

The Global Animal Welfare Index and similar tools attempt to track welfare progress across countries
Farm-level welfare outcome data provides the most direct measure of welfare change over time
Consumer behaviour, corporate commitments, and legislation are intermediate indicators of welfare trajectory
Welfare science citation rates and funding levels indicate the research infrastructure supporting welfare progress

Welfare Considerations

Without measurement, welfare progress is invisible and accountability is impossible. Developing agreed metrics for welfare at national and global scale is a research and policy priority that enables honest assessment of whether interventions are delivering real benefits to animals.

What You Can Do

Support organisations developing welfare measurement frameworks and indices
Engage with academic welfare science research on progress metrics
Advocate for governments and international bodies to publish regular welfare progress reports