Beyond preventing suffering: the science of joy, play, curiosity, and flourishing in animals
"The question is not only 'are we causing suffering?' but 'are we giving animals opportunities to experience the good things in life?' A cow that is not sick, injured, or hungry may still have a poor quality of life if she cannot perform social behaviors, explore, or experience positive emotional states." — Prof. Marian Stamp Dawkins, Oxford
Positive welfare states are subjective experiences that animals seek out and that contribute to their flourishing. Research identifies several core categories:
Play is found in mammals, birds, reptiles, and possibly fish and invertebrates. It's characterized by exaggerated, non-functional movements, repeated sequences, and voluntary engagement. Play behavior indicates positive emotional states — animals only play when safe, well-fed, and healthy.
Animals actively seek novelty and information. Exploration behavior — investigating new objects, environments, and conspecifics — is a marker of positive welfare. Environments that allow exploration produce measurably better welfare outcomes.
Grooming, play, affiliative behaviors, and proximity maintenance with preferred companions indicate positive social states. Social animals deprived of social bonding show physiological stress markers even without other welfare problems.
The ability to make choices and control one's environment is intrinsically rewarding. Studies show animals prefer environments where they have some control, even if the average outcome is identical — "controllability" itself has welfare value.
Positive anticipation of rewarding events — the "wanting" state — is distinct from the reward itself and itself has welfare value. Animals show measurable positive affect (tail wagging, play solicitations, vocalizations) in anticipation of positive events.
Relaxed posture, slow movement, elongated sleep, mutual grooming — all indicate contentment states. These are distinct from mere absence of fear or pain; they are active positive states with neurological signatures.
| Species | Positive Indicators | How to Promote |
|---|---|---|
| Dogs | Play bows, loose body wagging, "zoomies," soft eyes, play solicitation | Daily play, varied environments, social time, training games |
| Cats | Slow blink, bunting (head rubbing), trill vocalizations, relaxed grooming | Vertical space, hunt-play sequences, safe hiding spots, choice |
| Pigs | Rooting, exploratory behavior, social play, wagging tail, vocalizations | Rooting substrate, social groups, novel objects, outdoor access |
| Cattle | Ear position forward, playful bucking/jumping (especially young), affiliative grooming | Social groups, pasture access, neck scratching, calm handling |
| Chickens | Dust bathing, perching, foraging, social preening, sunbathing | Litter for dust bathing, perches, outdoor access, enrichment objects |
| Fish | Active exploration, "play" with objects (cichlids, wrasse), shoaling with preferred companions | Environmental complexity, hiding places, conspecific companionship |
| Horses | Social play, mutual grooming, spontaneous movement/galloping, relaxed grazing | Herd social contact, pasture time, varied environments |
Animals trained to associate high-pitched tones with reward and low-pitched tones with no reward are then tested with ambiguous middle tones. Animals in good welfare states respond "optimistically" (approaching ambiguous cues); those in poor welfare respond "pessimistically." This was first demonstrated in rats and bees and is now validated across mammals and birds.
Trained observers rate animals on scales like "curious vs. bored," "calm vs. agitated," "confident vs. fearful." These ratings integrate subtle behavioral cues into overall welfare state assessments. Validated to correlate with physiological welfare measures and used in Welfare Quality® protocol.
Giving animals choices and observing their preferences reveals what they value. Animals will work to access positive environments and avoid negative ones. The strength of preference (how hard they work) indicates the intensity of positive or negative states.
Spontaneous play frequency is one of the most reliable markers of positive welfare. Animals play when basic needs are met and positive emotional states are present. Standardized play observation protocols exist for many farmed and companion species.
Ear positions in cattle, horses, and pigs reliably correlate with emotional states. Asymmetric ear positions indicate arousal; relaxed forward positions indicate positive states. Combined with grimace scales (for pain) and facial expression coding, these provide rich behavioral welfare data.
Pasture access, social housing, enrichment objects (balls, chains for pigs), varied environments, and novel stimuli all increase positive welfare indicators in farmed animals. Higher-welfare certified farms increasingly measure positive indicators, not just absent negative ones.
Refinement in animal research includes "environmental enrichment" — nest materials, hiding tubes, climbing structures, social housing — that promotes positive welfare in lab animals. The 3Rs framework (Replace, Reduce, Refine) includes positive welfare as a component of refinement.
Modern zoo enrichment programs are explicitly designed around positive welfare — puzzle feeders, novel objects, choice architecture, and naturalistic environments. Quality is assessed not just by absence of stereotypy but by presence of positive behaviors.
PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report and similar tools assess companion animal positive welfare — not just health, but play, social connection, and behavioral expression. Positive training techniques explicitly build joy and confidence into training interactions.
Animal welfare means more than preventing suffering — it means enabling joy, play, and connection. Explore the positive welfare science, learn about welfare research, or discover how supporting the right organizations helps animals not just survive, but thrive.