NC State swine welfare professor wins 2026 AVMA award
Bottom line
NC State University said Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia, professor of global production animal welfare at the College of Veterinary Medicine, has been named the 2026 recipient of the AVMA Animal Welfare Award, marking what NC State described as the first time the honor has gone to a researcher focused primarily on swine welfare. Pairis-Garcia, who joined NC State in 2019, is board-certified in the American College of Animal Welfare, and her applied research has centered on pain management, humane euthanasia, and on-farm welfare assessment in commercial pig systems. NC State and Pork Checkoff materials show that her work has been tied closely to producer-facing tools and industry-funded projects aimed at making welfare practices practical on farms, including work on castration pain management and euthanasia protocols. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this award signals continued elevation of production-animal welfare science inside mainstream veterinary recognition, not just companion-animal or academic ethics discussions. Pairis-Garcia’s portfolio sits at the intersection of welfare, labor realities, audit systems, and day-to-day herd care, which is where swine veterinarians and mixed-animal practitioners often have to operate. Her emphasis on translating research into tools that farms can use immediately mirrors broader industry demand for welfare standards that are evidence-based, auditable, and workable at commercial scale. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
What to watch: Watch for whether the award raises Pairis-Garcia’s profile in future AVMA, Pork Checkoff, and producer-training initiatives, especially around pain mitigation, euthanasia training, and welfare audit refinement. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
A swine welfare researcher is getting one of organized veterinary medicine’s highest-profile welfare honors. NC State University announced on July 10, 2026, that Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia, professor of global production animal welfare at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, will receive the AVMA’s 2026 Animal Welfare Award, with the presentation tied to the association’s annual convention in California. NC State said she is the first recipient recognized primarily for swine-focused welfare work, a notable milestone for a field that has often had less public visibility than companion-animal welfare. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
The recognition builds on a career defined by applied production-animal welfare rather than laboratory or purely theoretical work. According to her NC State faculty profile, Pairis-Garcia is a veterinarian and professor with a split appointment in research, teaching, and extension, and she is board-certified through the American College of Animal Welfare. Her stated program areas include pain management in livestock, timely and appropriate on-farm euthanasia, and the development of welfare audits and assessment systems, all of which place her squarely in the practical decision-making space used by swine veterinarians, production systems, and animal-care teams. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
NC State’s announcement framed the award around her work translating welfare science into commercial practice. The university said her research has been conducted in partnership with groups including the National Pork Board and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, with a focus on farm assessments, audits, pain management, and humane euthanasia. That framing is consistent with publicly available Pork Checkoff research records, which list Pairis-Garcia as principal investigator on projects addressing barriers to on-farm pain management during castration, validation of pain-behavior sampling methods, and alternative euthanasia techniques for mature swine. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
Those details matter because they show the award is tied not only to scientific output, but also to implementation. Pork Checkoff’s Common Swine Industry Audit resources include extensive welfare and euthanasia training materials for producers and caretakers, reflecting the type of infrastructure Pairis-Garcia’s work is meant to inform. In a final report from one of her Pork Checkoff-funded projects, researchers identified persistent barriers to piglet pain control, including economics, labor, and the lack of FDA-approved drugs labeled specifically for pain control in pigs at the time of the report. That helps explain why her work has emphasized usable protocols and validated assessment methods, not just broad calls to “improve welfare.” (porkcheckoff.org)
NC State’s release also included supportive institutional and AVMA language. Pairis-Garcia said she was proud to represent North Carolina, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, and an industry “that has not always been recognized for its work in animal welfare.” NC State also quoted AVMA President Dr. Michael Q. Bailey, who said her work in humane euthanasia, pain management, and on-farm welfare assessment reflects the profession at its best. Those comments position the award as both a personal honor and a signal that swine welfare science is receiving broader professional legitimacy. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, especially those in food animal and mixed practice, the bigger story is that welfare science in commercial swine systems is being treated as core veterinary work, not an adjacent issue. Pairis-Garcia’s research agenda reflects the realities practitioners face: balancing animal well-being, workforce training, economic constraints, audit expectations, and public scrutiny. Her recognition may also reinforce the role of veterinarians as translators between welfare science and farm-level execution, particularly as packers, retailers, regulators, and pet parents increasingly expect transparent animal-care standards across the food system. That’s especially relevant in North Carolina, which NC State noted is the nation’s third-largest pork producer. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
It may also have influence beyond swine medicine. Welfare frameworks developed in pork production, such as structured assessment tools, euthanasia decision protocols, and caretaker training models, often become reference points for other livestock sectors. Because Pairis-Garcia’s appointment includes extension as well as research, her work is designed to move through continuing education, producer guidance, and field adoption, not remain confined to journals. That extension-heavy profile may be part of why this award landed now, as the profession continues to value evidence that changes practice. This is an inference drawn from the nature of her appointment and the implementation-focused projects tied to her name. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
What to watch: The next step is whether the visibility from this award translates into wider uptake of welfare assessment and pain-mitigation tools, new collaborations, or stronger AVMA and industry emphasis on swine-specific welfare guidance over the next 12 months. (cvm.ncsu.edu)