Pain management in food-producing animals has historically lagged behind companion animal medicine. Improving detection, assessment, and treatment of pain in livestock is a critical welfare priority supported by growing scientific evidence.
Untreated pain in livestock is both an ethical failure and a practical problem — it reduces growth, fertility, and productivity while causing suffering. The biological mechanisms of pain are highly conserved across mammals, meaning livestock experience pain similarly to companion animals and humans despite behavioral differences in expression. The stoic presentation of pain in prey species creates a systematic tendency to underestimate its prevalence. Improving pain detection through validated assessment tools and improving treatment through better access to veterinary-prescribed analgesics are key priorities for livestock welfare improvement.