Abstract: The grazing sheep in pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia are raised in the natural grassland. They are renowned for fresh, delicious, juicy, taint-free, and pollution-free meat in China and abroad. In the face of the increasingly enhanced ′animal welfare′ trade barriers from the developed countries, it is urgent to create a brand of welfare mutton sheep in Inner Mongolia, to break world trade barriers, and to improve the international competitiveness of the mutton sheep industry in Inner Mongolia. In this paper, the welfare status of grazing sheep in pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia is analyzed and evaluated, in hoping to provide references for accelerating the welfare process of grazing sheep in pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia.

Key words: animal welfare, sheep, grazing, Inner Mongolia