The five freedoms of farm animals

What are the five freedoms?

The five freedoms come from Britain. In 1965 a committee led by Professor Roger Brambell wrote that farm animals should at least be able to turn around, groom themselves, get up, lie down and stretch their limbs. In 1979 the British Farm Animal Welfare Council turned this into five freedoms.

Freedom	What the animal needs
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst	Ready access to fresh water and food to stay healthy.
2. Freedom from discomfort	A comfortable shelter and a good place to rest.
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease	Prevention, or quick diagnosis and treatment.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour	Enough space, proper facilities and the company of their own kind.
5. Freedom from fear and distress	Conditions that avoid mental suffering.

Natural behaviour means for example that a pig can root in the soil. A hen wants to scratch and take a dust bath. A cow should be able to walk in a pasture. In most sheds this is still not the case.

From five freedoms to five domains

The five freedoms are phrased negatively: they say what an animal should be free from. That is why the New Zealand researcher David Mellor developed the model of the five domains from 1994 onwards: nutrition, environment, health, behaviour and, fifth, the mental state of the animal. Then it is not only about an animal having no pain or fear. The animal should also have positive experiences, such as play, exploration and rest.

What the law says

• The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) uses the five freedoms as a basis for its animal welfare standards.
• In the European Union the Treaty of Lisbon (2009) recognises animals as sentient beings. A directive from 1998 sets general rules for keeping farm animals. Specific rules exist for calves, pigs and laying hens.
• In England and Wales the Animal Welfare Act 2006 gives owners a duty of care that closely follows the five freedoms.
• Yet almost everywhere these are welfare rules within a system of use. The animal remains property. The law asks what is "reasonable" for the farmer, not what the animal needs to be free.

Freely after philosopher Isaiah Berlin: there is freedom from and freedom to. In law, animals have at most some freedom from pain and discomfort. Their freedom to natural behaviour is not guaranteed. Read also Freedom is a basic animal right, Needs and interests of man and animal andQuestions about the intrinsic value of animals.

The five freedoms in practice

Farmers want to care for their animals. But the sheds are built for production. A short life without hunger and with little pain is not yet a good life. There is also boredom, lack of space and lack of contact. Some examples:

Hens

• Barren battery cages have been banned in the EU since 2012. Enriched cages are still allowed. In many other countries battery cages are still common.
• Laying hens usually live with thousands in one shed. They cannot avoid each other.
• Broiler chickens reach slaughter weight in about six weeks.

Pigs

• A sow lies for weeks in a farrowing crate in which she cannot turn around. In the EU pregnant sows have lived in groups since 2013.
• Most piglets have their tails docked, although the EU forbids this as a routine.
• Pigs live on slatted floors without straw, in the smell of their own manure. They can hardly root.

Cows and calves

• The calf is taken from its mother shortly after birth. The milk is for us.
• Many cows never go outside.

Fur animals

• A growing number of countries ban fur farming. In other countries it continues.

Read more per species in The worst abuses in factory farming and see our photos of animal cruelty.