The week the journal Animal Welfare published its first ever complete volume of open access papers. This volume, entitled “Animal Welfare Reconsidered”, consists of a series of papers that all seek to provide critical reflection on topics relevant to animal welfare. Animal welfare is conceptually challenging and methodologically vexatious, and any changes required to improve welfare are often difficult to implement. The papers address all three issues, with the aim of helping people who work to improve the welfare of animals in human care. The paper is edited by Dan Weary, Mike Appleby and Peter Sandoe, and includes thought provoking articles by Animal Welfare Program alumni Becca Franks and Becky Meagher.