Castration is performed on millions of male beef cattle annually; pain relief significantly reduces suffering and is increasingly required by welfare standards.
Castration is one of the most common painful procedures in beef cattle production, and one of the most clearly amenable to pain management. The research base supporting pain relief for castration is unambiguous: untreated calves show elevated cortisol, altered behaviour, and reduced growth for days after the procedure. The cost of NSAID pain relief is modest relative to the cost of the procedure itself and the value of the animal. The cultural norm of castration without pain relief — still common in many beef-producing countries — reflects historical attitudes about livestock pain that are not supported by current welfare science.