Dehorning causes significant acute and chronic pain in calves; local anesthesia plus post-procedural analgesia substantially reduces suffering and is increasingly standard.
Dehorning is one of the most common painful procedures in cattle farming and one with well-established pain management solutions. The reluctance to use adequate multimodal pain relief often reflects cost and time concerns rather than welfare considerations. Research demonstrates that even simple interventions like NSAID administration before and after the procedure substantially reduce pain indicators and improve recovery. Promoting polled genetics through selective breeding represents a longer-term solution that eliminates the welfare cost of dehorning entirely.