Sociable swine: engaging society’s values into a sustainable pig breeding research programme that aims for balanced improvement in productivity and welfare

We present the results of the exploratory phase of a project, which aims to delineate the conflicts between value frames of various stakeholders (pig industry; animal welfare organisations; consumers; scientists) involved around a new selection strategy in breeding. By adding a social behaviour value to the commercial breeding programme, undesired aggression of pigs might be replaced by positive social interactions: a balanced improvement of welfare and production might be achieved. By means of an interdisciplinary approach that combines the expertise of ethology, physiology, quantitative genetics, and ethics/technology assessment, the opportunities and (dis)advantages of this strategy will be explored. A constructive dialogue regarding the upcoming laboratory results will run parallel with the technical research programme to decide on future directions. Exploration through in-depth interviews and focus groups showed, among others, non-scientists appeared to be concerned that economic motives are the main drivers behind this research strategy, instead of the expressed motives of improving animal welfare. Moreover, the approach to include social interactions in breeding was perceived as an end-ofpipe solution and an implicit acceptation of the intensive pig husbandry. These results might indicate irresolvable value conflicts between the stakeholders and scientists involved. This paper ends with a discussion of options to proceed constructively.