Dehorning and disbudding of cattle causes significant pain annually but can be largely eliminated through selective breeding for polled (hornless) genetics.
Disbudding causes acute pain lasting several hours and post-operative discomfort for 24+ hours. Even with local anaesthesia and analgesics, the procedure causes measurable suffering. Breeding polled cattle eliminates the need for any procedure. The transition requires initial investment in polled semen or bulls but has no ongoing cost compared to repeated annual disbudding. Polled traits do not adversely affect production or health. The welfare case for transitioning to polled genetics is overwhelming given the scale of disbudding performed globally.