LIFT: Lifting farm animal lives – laying the foundations for positive animal welfare

The COST Action ‘LIFT’ will provide the background for including positive welfare in farm animal welfareassessment.The traditional approach to animal welfare was to prevent suffering and there is consequently a large bias inthe science of animal welfare towards the study of negative experiences. Recent advances, however, areleading to considerations of positive experiences, also referred to as positive welfare, which is more in linewith consumer and citizen expectations. There is currently no agreement among researchers on whatconstitutes positive animal welfare, or what kinds of techniques, tests and procedures are soundmethodologies to assess positive experiences in farm animals. Consequently, no welfare assessmentscheme currently includes direct animal-based indicators of positive experiences.The Cost Action will progress this research area in a multidisciplinary scientific approach by cross-disciplineknowledge sharing, training and Europe-wide collaboration to lay the foundations for this growing area ofresearch. The main aims are to 1) define positive farm animal welfare and clarify its concepts, 2) identifyvalid approaches to assess positive animal welfare, and 3) select methods suitable for on-farm use andprovide recommendations for the inclusion of aspects of positive welfare in farm animal welfare assessmentschemes. Throughout, stakeholders responsible for welfare assurance schemes from industry, governmentand NGOs, as well as veterinary organisations and advisory bodies for farmers are involved to ensurepractical feasibility and to improve the animal production sector’s sustainability.

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)

Zentrum für Tierernährung und Tierschutzwissenschaften