Animals transported over long distances for slaughter or breeding experience cumulative welfare impacts. Evidence supports journey time limits and improved rest facilities.
Long-distance livestock transport causes welfare harms that accumulate over time. Even with mandatory rest stops, animals in transit experience the stress of movement, unfamiliar environments, mixing with unknown conspecifics, and changes in temperature and ventilation. Water and feed consumption drops during transport, causing dehydration and negative energy balance. Animals slaughtered close to their farm of origin show better muscle glycogen — a proxy for pre-slaughter welfare — than those transported long distances. The economic motivation for long-distance live animal transport is cost differential between slaughter prices in different countries, and substituting chilled meat trade for live animal trade would eliminate the welfare costs while achieving the same economic outcomes.