Bovine respiratory disease is the leading cause of cattle mortality in the first year of life; prevention through management, vaccination, and early treatment dramatically reduces suffering.
Respiratory disease in cattle causes acute suffering from fever, laboured breathing, and systemic illness. The chronic lung pathology from unresolved or recurrent disease leads to persistent welfare impacts on affected animals throughout their lives. Prevention through appropriate vaccination, management of mixing and transport stress, and adequate housing ventilation is substantially more welfare-effective than reactive antibiotic treatment. Health monitoring programmes that detect cases early are critical to minimising suffering.