Designing Better Barns for Pigs and People | Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia

About the Guest Monique Pairis-Garcia is a Professor and Veterinarian in Global Production Animal Welfare at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Pairis-Garcia earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and her Doctorate in Philosophy from Iowa State University and her Bachelor’s degree in biology from Grinnell College. She is board-certified in the American College of Animal Welfare and serves on the Pig Welfare Committee for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and National Pork Board. Her research interests include pain management in livestock animals utilizing pharmacological interventions to minimize pain, development and refinement of educational material to ensure timely and appropriate euthanasia on-farm, and development and implementation of audit and assessment programs to ensure positive animal welfare and handling on-farm. What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig? How far we’ve come with animal welfare. The swine industry has made huge strides in making animal welfare a daily priority—from vet school to barn floor. Where pain management stands today. There’s still no FDA-approved product for pig pain, but promising research is underway, especially for piglets and lame sows. Why enrichment is still a struggle. Straw helps pigs act more naturally and reduces tail biting, but biosecurity and manure management hurdles are holding back progress. How barn design must evolve. From rubber mats to more natural light and flexible layouts, future-friendly barns are key—especially with policies like Prop 12 looming. Monique’s “golden nugget.”