Scope

The Animal Welfare and Policy speciality section publishes high quality research related to advancing our understanding about the welfare of animals and how our actions, directly or indirectly, impact upon their wellbeing and therefore the sustainability of agricultural systems. The section acknowledges the breadth of the subject that is animal welfare science today and welcomes manuscripts from all disciplines within the natural and social sciences. Globally, agricultural animal systems vary tremendously and they are continually changing in response to new demands and opportunities.

Climate, culture and economics also shape our different responsibilities and roles towards animals. This diversity of contexts makes analyses about the welfare of farm animals and future decisions challenging. We welcome single issue and multidisciplinary studies addressing the welfare of animals within a broad framework. Reshaping practices to be more welfare friendly requires improved knowledge about the cognitive abilities of animals, their emotional experiences and possibilities to adapt. Advances in the fundamental sciences; neuroscience, physiology, psychology etc. are increasingly being applied to further our understanding of the links between affective states, cognitive processing, learning and motivation. This is contributing novel ways to assess how an animal experiences its situation and to assess preferences. Similarly progress in evolutionary biology, genetics and behavioural ecology, among others, is contributing to improved understanding of how animals’ evolutionary and domestication history has shaped their ability to cope with the demands currently imposed upon them.

We welcome manuscripts that address theoretical, fundamental and applied research relating to the core issue of what welfare means for an animal and the ways in which it can be assessed. Also included in this speciality section is research analysing public and private animal welfare policies. Policies can apply to a specific animal or agricultural sector or to a specific geographical region, but they can also be global policies, such as those related to achieving the sustainable development goals. Welfare assessment protocols are of particular interest; how they are constructed and implemented in practice, as well as how data are used and any economic consequences. Furthering the development of risk assessment methodology as well as practical strategies to reduce risks to welfare are of interest in this context. However, policies can also address funding for animal welfare research and innovation, education in schools and the way information on animal welfare is disseminated to consumers and society in general. Thus, in addition to manuscripts specifically exploring animal welfare policies, we welcome manuscripts on the effects of other policy decisions on animal welfare. Our ultimate goal is to provide the leading forum for disseminating information on the academic development of animal welfare science and the complex network of drivers and barriers when developing policies to promote good welfare and integrate it into the larger sustainable development agenda.

In particular, the section focuses on:

• Studies addressing the welfare of traditional farm animal species, kept for the production of meat, milk, eggs, wool and fur, but also novel species used in food production, such as invertebrates. Additionally, studies on working animals that contribute or are in some way associated with different production practices will be considered.

• Progress in the concepts relevant to animal welfare; what we are and what ought we to be assessing? Academic reasoning around this can originate in the natural sciences, from social and ethical points of view, or linked to parallel discussions on human well-being and quality of life.

• Advances in welfare assessment at the individual and group level, including novel theoretical, methodological and technological approaches. This includes research on indicators of good as well as indicators of poor welfare. Advances in animal welfare risk assessment methodology, its relationship to welfare assessment and to risk management generally.

• Critical reasoning about how results from animal welfare research can be implemented into best practices, recommendations and legislation. Advances in our understanding of the roles of private and public assessment and the long term consequences of implementing different strategies. How animal welfare might be incorporated into future policies and how should these policies be constructed and enforced?

• Studies related to the consequences at the farm, food chain and society levels of different animal welfare policy decisions. These may include market and economic consequences, but also the cultural and broader societal consequences.

• Animal Welfare is not a stand-alone issue, as clearly illustrated in the One Welfare perspective. What are the drivers and barriers when integrating animal welfare with other ethical important issues, not least in our move towards achieving sustainable development goals.

• Improving education in animal welfare and dissemination methodologies for animal welfare knowledge

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