The air transport of live animals — from pet dogs to racehorses — raises complex welfare questions about stress, injury and mortality in an unregulated international context.
Air transport subjects animals to a constellation of stressors: noise, vibration, pressure changes, temperature variation, darkness, social separation and unfamiliar handlers. For companion animals, the experience is acute and bewildering. For horses and other large animals, loading, stall confinement and transit cause measurable cortisol elevations. Mortality statistics dramatically understate welfare impact because stress responses that fall short of death are rarely measured or reported. The most welfare-positive approaches minimise transport duration, use individual species-appropriate containers, and include trained monitoring throughout.