IN THIS GUIDE
01
What's actually happening
02
What animal welfare means
03
What to look for before you go
04
What to look for when you're there
05
What you can do after
06
Want to learn more?
FOR TOURISTS · A FIELD GUIDE
Travelling to see the world's animals is one of life's great experiences.
Most people just never find out what it costs them.
David A. Fennell, PhD. spent 25 years building the research that sits behind this page.
He spent several of those years unsure whether the world was ready for what that research demanded. It wasn't indecisiveness about the science, rather it was the weight of knowing how far the industry had to go, and how few people were willing to say so plainly.
CAT is his answer to that.
THE LANDSCAPE
Animals are the tourism industry's most valuable and most overlooked workers.
An estimated 100 million animals are used in tourism worldwide every year. They carry tourists on their backs, perform in shows, live in tanks and enclosures, and serve as photo opportunities at venues across every continent. Most of them do this without a single formal welfare standard protecting how they are housed, fed, trained, or cared for.
Research shows that most tourists genuinely want to make ethical choices when it comes to animal experiences. The problem is not a lack of concern. It is a lack of knowledge. Studies on animal welfare literacy in tourism consistently find that tourists cannot accurately assess the welfare of animals at the venues they visit, simply because the information they need has never been made accessible to them.
CAT exists to change that.
Welfare is the science of measuring and improving the quality of care provided to animals in human use. It asks how an animal is coping with its environment physically, emotionally, and behaviourally. When we talk about welfare, we're not saying whether animals should be used in tourism at all. We are asking whether, when they are used, are their needs are being met to the highest standard available to the facility.
The most widely used frameworks for measuring this are the Five Freedoms and the Five Domains model. The Five Freedoms assess whether an animal is free from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain and disease, fear and distress, and whether it can express natural behaviours.
The Five Domains model goes further, incorporating nutrition, environment, health, behavioural opportunities, and the animal's overall mental state. These are the standards CAT uses. They are the same standards the world's leading animal welfare scientists use. And they are the standards any tourist can apply when evaluating an experience before they book it.
When a tourism operator works with CAT, they are assessed against these exact standards. The level they earn on the Justice Pathway reflects where their operation stands. Transitioning Practice means an operator is aware and beginning to improve. Trending Practice means measurable progress is underway. Best Practice means the operation meets CAT's comprehensive welfare standards. And the Pinnacle of Practice, Deep Justice for Animals, represents the highest standard in the world.
Knowing this gives every tourist a meaningful way to evaluate the venues they choose to visit.
WHAT ANIMAL WELFARE ACTUALLY MEANS
Animal welfare is not the same as animal rights, and the difference matters more than most people realize.
WELFARE · WHAT CAT MEASURES
How an animal is coping
The science of measuring and improving quality of care, ie. physical, emotional, behavioural - for animals used around humans.
RIGHTS · A SEPARATE QUESTION
Whether animals should be used at all
A philosophical position about use itself. CAT does not take a position here. CAT measures whether the needs are being met when animals are used.
THE FRAMEWORK CAT USES
MELLOR ET AL. · THE STANDARD CAT APPLIES
The Five Domains model
i.
Nutrition
Access to appropriate food and water, in sufficient quantity and quality.
ii.
Environment
Conditions that allow comfort, shelter, and species-appropriate habitat.
iii.
Health
Freedom from disease and injury, with appropriate veterinary care.
iv.
Behaviour
Opportunities to express natural behaviours: foraging, socialising, exploring.
v.
Mental State
The animal's overall emotional experience: comfort, agency, absence of distress.
When a tourism operator works with CAT, they are assessed against these exact standards.
Full Justice Pathway →
The level an operator earns on the Justice Pathway reflects where their operation stands. Equipped with this knowledge, as a tourist, you can uses these standards to evaluate the venues you choose to visit, and determine whether or not that operator participates in the just treatment of animals.
LEVEL 01
Transitioning Practice
LEVEL 02
Trending Practice
LEVEL 03
Best Practice
PINNACLE · LVL 04
Deep Justice for Animals
WHAT TO LOOK FOR BEFORE YOU GO
The research you do before you arrive matters more than you think.
Studies show that tourists who arrive at animal venues with prior knowledge of welfare standards make measurably better decisions about which venues to visit and how to behave when they get there.
Here is what to look for when you are researching an experience online.
i.
Does the venue display a CAT certification badge?
CAT-certified operators have been assessed against a comprehensive framework covering animal welfare, conservation, and governance. The level of the badge tells you where they stand and what they have committed to improving.
LOOK FOR: JUSTICE PATHWAY LEVEL I–IV
ii.
Does the venue have a code of ethics or formal welfare standards?
Operators who have committed to formal welfare standards will typically display them. If this information is not visible, that is worth noting.
LOOK FOR: PUBLISHED POLICIES, FIVE DOMAINS REFERENCES
iii.
Does the venue restrict or discourage direct contact with animals?
Venues that prohibit touching, selfies, and hand-feeding are typically prioritising the animal's welfare over the tourist's entertainment. This is a good sign.
LOOK FOR: NO-CONTACT POLICIES, STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
iv.
Does the marketing match what's really going on?
Look at reviews from multiple sources. Pay attention to how animals are described and depicted. Venues that frame animals as performers or props rather than individuals with their own needs and behaviours are worth a second look.
LOOK FOR: ANIMALS AS SUBJECTS, NOT PROPS
v.
Is there transparency about how animals are cared for?
Responsible venues publish information about their animal care practices, veterinary relationships, and conservation contributions. If that information is hard to find, that is worth noting.
LOOK FOR: VET CARE, CONSERVATION CONTRIBUTIONS, ANNUAL REPORTING
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN YOU'RE THERE
What you observe on the ground can tell you a great deal.
Once you arrive at an animal venue, your own observations are a powerful tool. Research on animal welfare gives us clear behavioural indicators of both good welfare and poor welfare. You do not need a science degree to use them.
SIGNS OF GOOD WELFARE
What to watch for, and what to feel reassured by.
Animals that are engaged with their environment, moving freely, and displaying natural behaviours like foraging, socialising, or exploring.
Enclosures that reflect the animal's natural habitat.
Staff who interact with animals calmly and without physical force.
Enrichment devices that give animals cognitive and physical stimulation.
SIGNS OF POOR WELFARE
What to watch for, and what to walk away from.
Animals that are lethargic, repetitively pacing, or performing abnormal behaviours like swaying, rocking, or chewing on surfaces.
Enclosures that are barren, overcrowded, or clearly insufficient for the species.
Animals that are chained, tethered, or physically restrained outside of necessary veterinary care.
ON TOURIST BEHAVIOUR
The way visitors are managed at a venue matters too. Venues that control visitor numbers, restrict noise levels, and enforce no-contact policies are taking welfare seriously. Venues that allow or encourage feeding, touching, and close-contact selfies without restriction are not.
WHAT YOU CAN DO AFTER
EXAMPLE
🅜
Maya R.
VISITED MARCH 2026
Wonderful experience at [your destination]
Elephants were observed at distance, no riding or bathing, no chains. Staff explained the herd's history individually and intervened firmly when guests tried to approach. The sanctuary publishes its veterinary records and Five Domains assessments online. Worth every bit.
CERTIFIED BEST PRACTICE · LEVEL 03
Notice what makes this useful: specific observations, named welfare practices, no vague language. That's what helps the next traveller.
Your experience does not end when you leave.
Tourist reviews carry a good deal of weight. The feedback left by travellers shapes where other tourists choose to spend their money, and it creates a public record of what venues are actually doing for the animals in their care. Your review, written honestly and specifically, contributes to that record.
If a venue impressed you with its welfare standards, say so specifically. If something concerned you, describe what you observed. The more detailed the feedback, the more useful it is to other travellers making the same decisions you made.
Supporting organizations like CAT, which fund the research and education work behind these standards, is another way to extend the impact of a single trip into something larger.
FOR THE CURIOUS
The research is available to everyone.
CAT was founded on the principle that knowledge about animal welfare in tourism should not sit behind academic paywalls. David A. Fennell's, PhD. published research, along with selected papers from the field, is available in our publications library. If you want to understand the science behind what you read on this page, that is where to start.
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More educational resources, including guided learning materials for tourists, are in development and will be added here as they become available.
OPEN ACCESS
Knowledge is the first step.
Support is the next one.
CAT is a not-for-profit. The education work, the welfare literacy research, the certification programs that give operators a standard to meet, all of it is funded by people who believe the tourism industry can do better for animals
If this page changed how you think about your next trip, please consider supporting the work that is redefining the animal tourism industry.