CA21124 - LIFT: Lifting farm animal lives – laying the foundations for positive animal welfare (LIFT)

The COST Action ‘LIFT’ will provide the background for including positive welfare in farm animal welfare assessment.

The traditional approach to animal welfare was to prevent suffering and there is consequently a large bias in the science of animal welfare towards the study of negative experiences. Recent advances, however, are leading to considerations of positive experiences, also referred to as positive welfare, which is more in line with consumer and citizen expectations. There is currently no agreement among researchers on what constitutes positive animal welfare, or what kinds of techniques, tests and procedures are sound methodologies to assess positive experiences in farm animals. Consequently, no welfare assessment scheme currently includes direct animal-based indicators of positive experiences.

The COST Action will progress this research area in a multidisciplinary scientific approach by cross-discipline knowledge sharing, training and Europe-wide collaboration to lay the foundations for this growing area of research. The main aims are to 1) define positive farm animal welfare and clarify its concepts, 2) identify valid approaches to assess positive animal welfare, and 3) select methods suitable for on-farm use and provide recommendations for the inclusion of aspects of positive welfare in farm animal welfare assessment schemes. Throughout, stakeholders responsible for welfare assurance schemes from industry, government and NGOs, as well as veterinary organisations and advisory bodies for farmers are involved to ensure practical feasibility and to improve the animal production sector’s sustainability.