Animal welfare is the viewpoint that some or all animals, especially those under human care, should be treated in such a way that they do not suffer unnecessarily. This position places some ethical value on the life of animals, while being weaker than animal rights.

Animal Welfare Compared With Animal Rights

Many animal rights and animal welfare advocates make a clear distinction between the two philosophies. To argue for animal rights, one needs a general meta-ethical outlook that is based on rights. To argue for animal welfare, one can be a consequentialist. Tom Regan argues for animal rights, while the utilitarian Peter Singer argues for animal welfare.

Most animal welfarists argue that the animal rights view goes too far, and do not advocate the elimination of all animal use or companionship. Animal rights advocates, such as Gary Francione, argue that the animal welfare position (advocating for the betterment of the condition of animals, but without abolishing animal use: see veganism) is logically inconsistent and ethically unacceptable. However, there are some animal rights groups, such as PETA, which support animal welfare measures in the short term to alleviate animal suffering until all animal use is ended.

Canadian ethicist David Sztybel distinguishes six different types of animal welfare views:

• animal exploiters' animal welfare: the reassurance from those who use animals that they already treat animals well
• commonsense animal welfare: the average person's concern to avoid cruelty and be kind to animals
• humane animal welfare: a more principled opposition to cruelty to animals, which does not reject most animal-using practices (except perhaps the use of animals for fur and sport)
• animal liberationist animal welfare: a philosophy championed by Peter Singer, which strives to minimize suffering but accepts some animal use for the greater good, such as the use of animals in some medical research
• new welfarism: a term coined by Gary Francione to refer to the belief that measures to improve the lot of animals used by humans will lead to the abolition of animal use
• animal welfare/animal rights views which do not distinguish the two

Other views of animal welfare exist which are not included in David Sztybel's list.

Animal welfare principles are codified by positive law in many nations, but animal rights are recognized in none.