Animal welfare and animal rights explained. What’s the difference?

Ignoring animal abuse is difficult when you have pets. You love your four-legged friend as much as any human family member, so animal welfare and rights violations might stand out to you among news headlines. If you’re going to live by your values and speak up for what you believe in, it’s crucial to understand the nuances of making the world better for animals.

Learning more about animal welfare and rights is a great way to make yourself a better voice for the defenseless. You’ll know when progress is happening and when to hold people accountable when they can do better.

Who enforces policies about animal well-being?

Concern about any animal’s treatment only results in change if someone enforces that change. Thankfully, numerous international organizations and national laws hold people to a higher standard. People generally agree that treating animals with kindness is crucial to being a good human. Keeping a watchful eye on animal rights issues may even identify potential interpersonal offenders and make the world safer for everyone.

What is animal welfare?

Animal welfare is the measure of every animal’s environmental conditions, veterinary care, mental health and physical health. Proper welfare means the animals are happy, well-fed, taken care of and living with as minimal stress as possible. You can also think of someone’s welfare as their quality of life.

This aspect of animal well-being also applies in conditions you might not expect. Meat suppliers raise and process animals to sell as food products, but that doesn’t mean they’re free to treat animals however they want. Many companies require third-party animal welfare audits to ensure each animal’s well-being during their lives.

The movement to make animal welfare a larger national priority goes back as far as 1801 when Mary Tealby started the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. People who make fun of those concerned for the welfare of animals might make it seem like a modern invention, but people have always wanted living things to be happy, safe and healthy.

What are animal rights?

Animal rights are the rights animals have just because they’re living beings, but they require legal protection to exist. The exact definition depends on the person, organization or country. Generally, the amount of rights granted to animals depends on the region’s laws concerning their welfare.

Some people theorize that rights enable an individual’s self-respect because rights affirm their humanity. If that’s the case, the same people argue that rights can only go to beings with self-consciousness. Some animal rights supporters go so far as to suggest that animals should get to vote on laws concerning how people can legally treat them through a human representative.

What’s the difference?

The welfare of a living being involves indisputable factors like their physical health, mental health and living environment. Rights are more of a philosophical question answered only when people pass laws guaranteeing rights to individuals. Laws can protect an animal’s welfare too, but they safeguard things that already exist.

Examples of welfare and rights in-practice

If you’re still unclear about the difference between animal welfare and animal rights, look at some real-world examples. Imagine that you have a dog. Assuring your dog’s welfare would mean keeping them physically safe and comfortable. If you live in one of the states that don’t have laws against canine tattoos, you could endanger your dog’s welfare by forcing them to get a tattoo. The broken skin and ink could lead to infections after causing notable pain for the pup involved.

Even those with positive intentions may deteriorate their animal’s welfare. Overprotective pet parents sometimes overly restrict their animal’s routine, preventing their pet from going outside or getting enough exercise. While their intention might be to keep their pet safe, it ultimately harms their animal’s quality of life.

Rights are abilities you have and retain by some type of law. If the law didn’t exist, your rights wouldn’t exist. If a law granted a dog the ability to rent an apartment, that would be a housing right. It would improve their welfare, but their need for a safe living environment would exist whether that law passed or not. 

Both aspects of an animal’s life can always improve. If people concerned about animal rights and welfare issues speak up, organize and pass laws, animals worldwide would have happier lives. Given how the animals can’t advocate for themselves, many people feel it’s their duty to do so. It’s one of the ways enforceable laws like the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill passed in the U.K. in 2022.

Make the world a better place

Discovering the difference between animal welfare and animal rights is a crucial part of learning to advocate for those who can’t speak for themselves. If you love animals, you can carry your newfound knowledge with you as you make a positive difference for the animals in your life. Your new perspective might even change how you interact with the world.