Farm animal welfare: a real scientific and political issue

Abstract

Research into animal welfare, which began in the 1970s with work focusing on stress, has expanded and diversified considerably over the last twenty-five years. Animal welfare has become a major area of research in the animal sciences first and then human and social sciences. Scientific knowledge focuses on understanding the concepts of sentience and welfare in non-human animals, on ways of assessing the welfare of animals and on how to improve it. However, progress towards more animal-friendly farming practices remains limited, despite the increase in scientific knowledge about animal sentience and changes in attitudes towards the animal condition. The adoption of new uses or practices that are more respectful of animals is more often hampered by the cost and changes required to the dominant farming systems. It is essential to step up interdisciplinary research, in particular combining animal sciences with computer sciences, economics, the environment and the human and social sciences, which are crucial to understanding the complexity of animal welfare and its inclusion in the design of sustainable farming systems. Emphasis should also be focused on citizen sciences to facilitate progress that takes into account both the condition of the animals and the quality of working life for the people involved. At the same time, the scientific community needs to become more involved in providing expertise and support to policy-makers in order to support a real societal project and long-term public policies that are more respectful of animals.