3. What Is “Good” Animal Welfare?
The Five Freedoms to The Five Domains

“Animal welfare is important because there are so many animals around the world suffering from being used for entertainment, food, medicine, fashion, scientific advancement, and as exotic pets. Every animal deserves to have a good life where they enjoy the benefits of the Five Domains”.

~ World Animal Protection (WAP)

There have been numerous discussions attempting to adequately define the concept of “good” animal welfare. The welfare of animals can be broadly understood through the following three different aspects:

(i) biological functioning — the satisfaction of the biological needs of the animal;

(ii) affective state — what the animal experiences as being pleasant or unpleasant;

(iii) natural living — the environment and the extent to which it deviates from life in the natural environment for the species.

In simpler terms, good animal welfare for farmed animals depends on three components:

• Physical well-being;

• Mental well-being;

• Natural living.

How can we then ensure that the needs of farmed animals are being met and they are experiencing “good” welfare on farms?

Five Freedoms

The Five Freedoms is one of the most well-recognised concepts related to animal welfare that has greatly influenced much a lot of the current legislation and standards concerning farmed animals. The Five Freedoms outline five aspects of animal welfare under human control. They were developed in response to a 1965 UK Government report on livestock husbandry, and were formalised in a 1979 press statement by the UK Farm Animal Welfare Council. The Five Freedoms have been adopted by professional groups, including veterinarians, and a number of organisations. Although the Five Freedoms have been further elaborated and extensively debated, they have guided many of the efforts by governments and advocates in order to design a more humane farm system.

The Five Freedoms as currently expressed are:

1. Freedom from hunger or thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.

2. Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.

3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment.

4. Freedom to express (most) normal behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind.

5. Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.

The original Five Freedoms focused mainly on the prevention of animal suffering and have increasingly been found to be limited in the assumption that the absence of (or “freedom” from) negative states would ensure high welfare.

Five Domains

The more modern animal welfare concept of the Five Domains considers nutrition, environment, health, and behaviour as governing inputs that result in a range of mental states from negative to positive. Positive welfare states include comfort, pleasure, satiation, play, learning, calm, confidence, choice, and interest, which can be linked to inputs such as good space, temperature, air quality, enrichment, and more.

In 2015, an updated framework was introduced based on Five Domains. The first four domains include the elements covered by the original Five Freedoms. The fifth domain covers the mental states of the animal that derive from the resources that are provided by the first four domains. A visual representation of the five domains model can be seen in this diagram: