There is widespread public concern regarding animal welfare in the United States. Evidence for this concern, and how it affects the long-term sustainability of animal use, is apparent in numerous stakeholder initiatives to address this issue. For example, agricultural sectors have developed standards of care and then verify compliance with these; the list of audit or assessment programs currently include the North American Meat Institute Audit of livestock slaughter, United Egg Producer’s audit, National Milk Producer’s Federation Farmers Assuring Responsible Management program, and the Common Swine Industry Audit. Among these initiatives, there widespread support for the idea that decisions about welfare should be based on scientific evidence. Indeed, other stakeholders, such as agricultural universities, also recognize that standards of care of agricultural animals should be based on science. The Ag Guide, the US standards of care for agricultural animals used in research and teaching, is informed and revised every 10 years to reflect the latest research in this area. Finally, animal welfare plays a role in world trade as evidenced by the recent establishment of global animal welfare standards on transport and slaughter by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The OIE continues the development of standards and recommendations in new areas of importance to animal welfare and it is important that these standards be based on scientific evidence.

Through NC-1029, we have established a national scientific committee to generate and disseminate objective scientific information on animal welfare issues. This committee is comprised of approximately 40 scientists working in multiple disciplines at different locations throughout North America. Our research is critical to provide the science and technology to help stakeholders, including those in the agricultural sectors, education and at the global level, make informed decisions about standards of animal care.