: Focuses on the well-being and quality of life of animals. It generally accepts the human use of animals (for food, research, or work) provided they are treated "humanely" and protected from unnecessary suffering.
The gold standard for welfare is the originally developed for livestock but now applied across the board: Animal Welfare : Focuses on the well-being and
Welfare advocates work within existing systems to pass laws for larger cages, better veterinary care, and more humane slaughter practices. Understanding Animal Rights: The Philosophical Shift If we can produce animal proteins without animals,
This future may render the welfare vs. rights debate obsolete. If we can produce animal proteins without animals, the welfarist concedes that factory farms vanish, and the rights advocate celebrates that sentient beings are no longer property. The interim challenge—the next 20 years—is how we treat the billions of animals still in the system. Can they talk? but
Modern animal welfare is heavily influenced by Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), who famously wrote: “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” Bentham’s utilitarianism focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Consequently, welfare advocates argue that as long as an animal’s life is net-positive in terms of pleasure over pain, using the animal is permissible.