Adequate pain control in cattle is a welfare imperative that remains widely insufficient.
Cattle undergoing painful procedures — dehorning, castration, lameness treatment, calving assistance — frequently receive inadequate or no analgesia. The economic pressure to minimise veterinary costs discourages routine analgesic use. The evidence is clear that pain relief reduces stress, promotes faster recovery, and improves welfare outcomes. Mandatory analgesia protocols for specific procedures would protect cattle from preventable pain at relatively low cost.