Bem-estar animal: qual é a novidade? Animal welfare: what's new?

From the 70’s, science increasingly shows signs of animal sentience recognition. The organization of animal welfare knowledge and its teaching for veterinary students grow steadily in Europe and North America after 1986; in Brazil they are in full expansion, markedly after 2000. Focus of the animal welfare science initial steps, the study of farm animal welfare develops fast and intensely, while the issues of companion animal welfare develop timidly. Different authors describe different critical points in companion animal welfare; in Brazil stray animals deserve special attention, for the number of animals involved is high. What contribution could veterinarians specialized in animal welfare bring to the context of companion animals? The greatest novelty is the organization of issues according to a priority order based on life quality of the animals involved, which in turn allows the search for strategies to improve the degree of animal welfare. The general objective of these strategies is to decrease physical, behavioural and psychological suffering of the animals under our guardianship.