One Welfare is an international movement which highlights the interconnections between animal welfare, human wellbeing, and environmental conservation.
One Welfare encourages interdisciplinary collaboration to approach issues with a holistic perspective to improve human and animal welfare, as well as promoting global objectives such as sustainability, food security, reducing human suffering and improving farming productivity.
One Welfare encourages interdisciplinary collaboration to approach issues with a holistic perspective to improve human and animal welfare, as well as promoting global objectives such as sustainability, food security, reducing human suffering and improving farming productivity.
One Welfare - 10 Outcomes
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Reduction in animal and human abuse
Animals often act as indicators of human health and welfare, as can be seen in the link between animal abuse, family and social violence. Improving animal welfare has wider societal benefits through a human welfare and public health gain. Improved animal welfare – addressing poverty and local community support
Where there are poor states of human welfare, there are often poor states of animal welfare. Animal welfare should be an essential part of all community development programmes, particularly in developing world rural areas where people depend on livestock farming or keeping. Improved animal welfare – improved human wellbeing
Animal hoarding is an area where animal welfare and human wellbeing are interlinked. Identifying and tackling hoarding will help to improve not only animal welfare, as animals end up suffering from neglect, but also that of the humans who may hoard. Improved animal and farmer welfare – improved farming productivity
Farmer wellbeing is directly correlated with animal welfare. Productive farms with well-kept animals are generally associated with positive farmer wellbeing and superior yields (eg, better hoof care improves the health of cows and healthy cows have a better milk yield). More efficient multidisciplinary approaches
A more joined-up and multidisciplinary approach could be more efficient and effective. Different professionals could all play a part in improving both farm animal welfare and farmer wellbeing. |
Improved animal welfare and social aspects
Addressing social problems within urban areas, it is not unusual for cases of animal cruelty and abuse to be related to poverty and social problems. There may be specific issues such as homelessness and dog fighting. Improvements in animal welfare at this level would support interventions tackling other social issues. Improved life chances – human rehabilitation and animal rehoming
Programmes in prisons and offenders’ institutions have demonstrated that rehabilitation of dogs for rehoming can be beneficial both to the people and the animals involved. Animal-assisted interventions can help to build self-esteem and reduce reoffending in people. Links between improved animal welfare and food safety
Stress and poor animal welfare result in increased release and virulence of a number of zoonotic diseases, including Salmonella. Evidence shows, for example, that better animal welfare for farm animals results in improved food safety. Improved animal welfare – improved food security and sustainability
Developing communities that care for their animals help to ensure continuity of farming and enhanced availability of animal-derived products, and there are positive effects on wider areas of societal concern such as climate change, farming sustainability and disaster management. Increased biodiversity – improved human wellbeing
Environmental and conservation issues also contribute to the One Welfare concept. Studies show that an increased number of wild birds in a given area has a positive impact on human wellbeing in the area. Conversely, biodiversity loss can have highly detrimental consequences for human wellbeing. |
Pinillos, R. G., Appleby, M. C., Manteca, X., Scott-Park, F., Smith, C., & Velarde, A. (2016). One welfare - a platform for improving human and animal welfare. The Veterinary Record, 179(16), 412–412. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.i5470
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