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The discussion about animal welfare is a highly relevant topic in modern society, ethics, law, industry, agriculture, and science (Bayvel & Cross, 2010). This article will attempt to highlight different approaches for understanding animal welfare issues through a conceptual framework involving science, ethics and natural living. In the end, this article will also discuss the importance of animal welfare in society with cases reported in literature from Brazil and Norway.
I. Foundations of Animal Welfare
A. Historical Relationship Between Humans and Animals
Animal welfare issues have likely been discussed within human societies since the first animals were domesticated. Early human communities have developed unique bonds with other animal species through domestication of wildlife (Larson & Fuller, 2014). The first animal domestication event occurred near the end of the Pleistocene, when dogs approached human settlements (Larson et al., 2012). Later throughout human history, several domestications with various species have occurred, including cats, cattle, pigs, horses, chicken, yak, guinea pigs, and many more (Larson & Fuller, 2014). The relationship between humans and their domesticated animals have consequently changed together with farming practices and so has the question of animal welfare risen into relevance. Animal welfare was a topic discussed by philosophers already in 1789 (Bentham, 1879), but was more formalized into an active welfare movement later in the 1960s-80s (Broom, 2011), with several animal welfare laws were implemented in Europe after the second world war (Caporale et al., 2005).
B. Conceptual Frameworks: Understanding Animal Welfare
The idea about “animal welfare” is rather complex, involving both value-based judgements and scientific approaches. Different approaches can lead to clashing conclusions about animal welfare, even while discussing the same conditions, as described in (Fraser, 2008). A conceptual model for approaching animal welfare is shown in Fig. 1, from (Fraser, 2008). In this model, “animal welfare” is from three different perspectives: animals exhibiting growth, are free of sickness, and having a generally healthy physiology fulfils the “basic health and functioning” approach of animal welfare. The animal’s “affective states”, such as hunger, pain, fear, etc., should also be managed in a satisfying manner. From the “natural living” approach, the animal’s natural behaviour (i.e. in the natural habitat) is encouraged.
Figure 1) Conceptual model about animal welfare, involving the degree in which the animal’s physical and emotional states are satisfied (“affective states”), physical health (“basic health and functioning”), and in what ways the animal is allowed to recreate its natural behaviour (“natural living”) (Fraser, 2008).
II. The Societal Importance of Animal Welfare
A. Ethics, Agriculture, and Public Health
From the model presented above, multiple approaches are necessary to discuss the ethics of animal welfare. A heavily “natural living” approach might be suitable for the individual adult animal, but costly with high numbers of neonatal deaths. Likewise, a heavily “basic health and functioning” approach might only consider the individual animal’s weight and absence of injuries but otherwise ignore the animal’s need for exploring its surroundings (Fraser, 2008). The importance of animal welfare extends beyond the animals themselves, especially for management of public health and food safety. Animal welfare is therefore beneficial for preventing the outbreak of zoonotic diseases (Tomley & Shirley, 2009), though certain animal welfare practices could increase the frequency of parasite infections in free-range animals (Pozio et al., 2021).
Activists have long argued for improved animal welfare among farm animals, especially considering the high density of individual animals within a constrained farm area (Sayer, 2013). The farmer may realize that production efficiency is highly correlated with animal welfare, yielding more per individual animal, but may still choose to increase the population density to increase profitability per unit area (Lusk & Norwood, 2011). Intensive cattle farming, where large numbers of cattle are confined within a feedlot, is a common practice in Brazil (Vale et al., 2019). Feedlots may be beneficial against deforestation in Brazil, as smaller land areas are required to keep livestock, though the high population density poses a serious risk of pollution to the environment and spread of diseases (Vale et al., 2019).
B. Animal Welfare in Practice: The Case of Mink Farming
Improving animal welfare should be achievable using the conceptual model presented in Fig. 1. Mink farming, an industry oriented towards fur production for the clothing industry, is also known for problems related to animal welfare, where unproper animal welfare often appears as stressful behaviour among the minks (Hansen & Jeppesen, 2006). In this case, “natural living” approach by (Møller, 2023) suggested a confinement more close to the mink’s natural habitat, with water sources for swimming. The minks are living together in social groups, until they are separated after reaching adulthood. This example illustrates how knowledge about the mink’s biology can be used to improve animal welfare. Animal welfare activism has been very efficient changing the mink fur industry in Norway (E. Larsen, 2013; Norsk pelsdyrhold - bærekraftig utvikling eller styrt avvikling? Gjennomgang av pelsdyrnæringen., 2019). Concerns about the poor animal welfare seen at the mink farms in Norway was documented and brought to public attention, finally leading to a ban on mink farms, effective since February 2025 ("I natt: Stortinget vedtok å avvikle pelsdyrnæringen innen 2025," 2019).
Animal welfare is essential for all animals in human captivity, satisfying the three approaches considered above. This means that the persons responsible for the animal in captivity should aim to both minimize stress, sickness and damages to their animals, while ensuring that the physiological conditions are healthy, and giving the animal opportunity to replicate some of its natural behaviour (without significantly compromising the other two approaches). To achieve this goal, better understanding of animal biology is essential to understand the benefits and challenges in each approach. Public attention to animal welfare issues is effective, as in the case of mink fur farms, where laws were changed to improve animal welfare.
