Dehorning is one of the most common painful procedures in cattle farming, yet analgesia use remains inconsistent globally — representing a significant and addressable welfare failure.
Dehorning and disbudding cause significant acute pain regardless of technique, and potentially chronic pain at the wound site. When performed with appropriate analgesic nerve blocks and NSAIDs, the welfare impact is dramatically reduced — but surveys consistently show that analgesic use remains below 50% in many countries. The long-term solution is genetic: polled cattle breeds eliminate the need for dehorning entirely, removing the welfare problem at its root. Breed society programmes that actively support polled genetics adoption, and farm assurance schemes that require pain relief as a minimum, are both needed to address this welfare gap comprehensively.