Dehorning and disbudding of cattle causes significant pain and stress and is performed without adequate analgesia in the majority of cases globally, despite effective pain management being available.
Disbudding without anaesthesia causes acute pain responses including vocalisations, head shaking and cortisol elevation. Post-operative pain may last several days. Dehorning of adult animals causes more severe and longer-lasting pain. Despite veterinary guidance recommending analgesia, many calves are disbudded without pain relief due to cost and time pressures. Adoption of polled genetics would eliminate the need for the procedure entirely.