Scientific, Ethical, and Economic Aspects of Farm Animal Welfare

Since the publication of the 1997 CAST task force report on the well-being of agricultural animals, myriad discoveries and improvements have been made in the respective areas of science involved in research on animal welfare. In 1997, six high-priority research areas needed for scientific advancement were identified. These were: "(1) bioethics and conflict resolution, (2) responses of individual animals to the production environment, (3) stress, (4) social behavior and space requirements, (5) cognition, and (6) alternative production practices and systems" (CAST 1997). In the interim between the 1997 publication and the current report, the priorities, state of the science, challenges, and approaches to addressing agricultural animal welfare have evolved considerably. First, the title change from animal well-being (the term more commonly used in the United States) to animal welfare is in keeping with growing global consensus on scientific terminology and definitions. Setting the stage here is the now widely accepted World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) definition of animal welfare, which clarifies that welfare is a property of the individual animal, and refers to the animal's state as scientifically assessed by examining its health, comfort, nutritional status, safety, behavior, and experience of mental states such as pain, fear, and distress (OIE 2008).