Dehorning of cattle is among the most commonly performed painful procedures in livestock production, yet is still frequently performed without adequate pain management in many countries.
Dehorning without anaesthesia or analgesia causes severe acute pain that is well-documented in welfare research. Post-operative pain from cautery and surgical dehorning can persist for days with inadequate pain management. The availability of effective anaesthetic and analgesic protocols makes pain-free dehorning achievable, and the development of polled genetics offers the prospect of eliminating the need for dehorning entirely.