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Towards an Animal Welfare Impact Category: Weighting Indicators in Pig Farming

Author

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  • Nina Treml

    (Institute for Industrial Production (IIP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Elias Naber

    (Institute for Industrial Production (IIP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany)

  • Frank Schultmann

    (Institute for Industrial Production (IIP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hertzstr. 16, 76187 Karlsruhe, Germany)

Abstract

The understanding of sustainability is shifting from that of a purely environmental dimension to one that includes social concerns. Combined with the growing customer interest in livestock husbandry practices, this study investigates the assessment of animal welfare as a socially influenced impact category for the life cycle assessment (LCA) of pig farming. The weighting of animal welfare impacts is based on a quantitative approach using a set of indicators derived from an expert survey using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The aim is to develop an easy-to-implement score that translates the characteristics of several animal welfare indicators into a comparable value. To demonstrate the feasibility of the weighting part of the framework, a case study is conducted with nine experts in the fields of animal husbandry, agricultural sciences, and veterinary medicine. The case study results show that the main criteria of single animal observation and feed intake are the most relevant factors, at 30.6%, followed by operation-specific parameters at 23.9% and husbandry conditions at 14.9%. This case study highlights that animal losses (13.9%) significantly influence the impact category, while access to outdoor areas (1.4%) is less important. The overall conclusion is that an animal health-centered approach is preferable when assessing animal welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Nina Treml & Elias Naber & Frank Schultmann, 2025. "Towards an Animal Welfare Impact Category: Weighting Indicators in Pig Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4677-:d:1659878
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. David Tilman & Michael Clark, 2014. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 518-522, November.
    3. Saaty, Thomas L., 1990. "How to make a decision: The analytic hierarchy process," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 9-26, September.
    4. Silvana Pietrosemoli & Clara Tang, 2020. "Animal Welfare and Production Challenges Associated with Pasture Pig Systems: A Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-34, June.
    5. P Ji & R Jiang, 2003. "Scale transitivity in the AHP," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 54(8), pages 896-905, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marc David Davidson, 2025. "Incorporating Animal Welfare into Cost–Benefit Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-15, October.

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