ArticleBiology letters2025
A consensus on the definition of positive animal welfare.
Article in Biology letters, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed.
- Contextual Anthropocentrism and Animal Welfare Attitudes Among German Livestock Farmers: Evidence from Survey Data.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Fish welfare in a changing world: New developments and current challenges.Journal of fish biology · 2026Review
- Some attributes of pasture-based systems as they relate to dairy cow welfare.JDS communications · 2026Article
- Social information about others' affective states in a human-altered world.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Review
- Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) in Broiler Plasma: Analytical Validation of Immunoassays and Comparative Overview Across Avian Species.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Resilience Metrics in Pigs: How Novelty and Environmental Complexity Shape Affective State and Neurobiological Outcomes.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Assessing good physical health and resilience as a foundation for positive welfare in chickens.Poultry science · 2026Review
- Enrichment with Hermetia illucens live larvae in a cage-free system: effects on welfare and egg production and quality in laying hens of two genotypes.Poultry science · 2026Article
- Establishing Behavioural Thresholds for Dogs in Animal-Assisted Services: Expert-Derived Thresholds and Field Study Comparison.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Implications of stress for animal welfare and animal-based researchLaboratory animals · 2026Review
- Dogs' Behavioural Responses to Dog-Assisted Interventions: A Field Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Comparative On-Farm Welfare Assessment of Sheep in Extensive, Semi-Extensive, and Semi-Intensive Systems.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Animal Welfare Monitor: Raising the Bar for Species-Specific Welfare Evaluation Using Welfare QualityAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- The Impact of Pet Videos on Emotional Face Processing.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Veterinarians' perspectives on animal welfare, legal enforcement, and forensic readiness in companion animal cruelty investigations in Thailand: A cross-sectional qualitative study.Veterinary world · 2026Article
- Qualitative behavioural assessment shows individual variation suggestive of affective state changes in early lactation dairy cows.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Quality of life framework in poultry: a methodological approach to characterize the behavior of chickens reared under free-range conditions.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Agency denied: PADA and the perils of paternalistic dog care.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- DST: a Dual-path Swin Transformer framework for pig behavior recognition.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Environmental enrichment reduces displacements and reorganises circadian patterns: a putative indicator of positive welfare in dairy calves.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The concept of animal welfare is evolving due to progress in our scientific understanding of animal biology and changing societal expectations. Animal welfare science has been primarily concerned with minimizing suffering, but there is growing interest in also promoting positive experiences, grouped under the term positive animal welfare (PAW). However, there are discrepancies in the use of the term PAW. An interdisciplinary group arrived at a consensus that 'PAW can be defined as the animal flourishing through the experience of predominantly positive mental states and the development of competence and resilience. PAW goes beyond ensuring good physical health and the prevention and alleviation of suffering. It encompasses animals experiencing positive mental states resulting from rewarding experiences, including having choices and opportunities to actively pursue goals and achieve desired outcomes'. The definition also considers individual and species-specific differences. It provides a framework for researchers to investigate PAW and thereby generate innovative, informative and reproducible science. Studies of PAW can contribute to a richer picture of an animal's life and may elucidate the biological foundations of happiness. The definition creates opportunities to inspire scientific progress in animal biology and to align animal care practices, legislation and markets with societal expectations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.