What is Good Welfare?

Following Ruth Harrison's book 'Animal Machines' (1964), a report on intensive husbandry was carried out by Professor Rogers Brambell in 1965 (Brambell, 1965). As a result, the British Government established a Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in 1967 that became the present Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) in 1979. This committee concluded initially that all closely confined animals should at least have the freedom to 'turn around, to groom themselves, to get up, to lie down and to stretch their limbs'. These definitions required further elaboration and the next general recommendations became known as the Five Freedoms, now recognized worldwide and subsequently revised in 1993.

The Five Freedoms

1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition by ready access to fresh, clean water and adequate, nutritious food to maintain full health and vigor.
2. Freedom from discomfort by providing an environment suitable to their species, including adequate shelter and a comfortable resting area.
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease by prevention rapid diagnosis and treatment.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour by the providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind.
5. Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring living conditions which avoid mental suffering.

Animals denied the five freedoms suffer an array of behavioural problems, many of which are similar to those that occur in distressed humans. Balanced living conditions, where a creature has all it needs to survive including sufficient mental challenges, ensures that the animals exist in an appropriate environment to evolve properly.