Understanding the physiological stress response during animal transport helps identify which aspects of the journey cause most harm and how to mitigate them.
Transport stress is multifactorial: physical vibration, novel social groupings, temperature extremes, food and water restriction, and the inability to escape novelty all contribute simultaneously. Stress physiology research shows that these stressors are additive and cumulative over journey time. Animals with prior positive handling experience show attenuated stress responses during transport, demonstrating that stockmanship quality affects transport welfare outcomes. Minimizing journey time, maintaining familiar social groups, and pre-transport handling training all reduce stress.