Farmed Animals

Pain Management in Livestock: Closing the Gap

A significant gap exists between the availability of effective pain management for livestock and its actual use in commercial farming.

Key Facts

Effective NSAIDs including meloxicam and ketoprofen are licensed for cattle, sheep, and pigs
Studies show only 30-40% of routine painful procedures use analgesics in UK livestock farming
Cost of analgesia per animal is typically under 1 pound — far less than the productivity loss from pain
Veterinary prescription requirements create barriers to spontaneous analgesic use in emergencies

Welfare Considerations

Preventable pain in livestock is fundamentally a failure of implementation rather than a lack of tools. The medications, protocols, and evidence all exist. The gap is in farm culture, cost perception, and prescription access barriers. Regulatory requirements for pre-procedural analgesic use would standardize pain management as a non-negotiable welfare baseline.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns for mandatory analgesic use during painful livestock procedures
Advocate for pre-dispensing of analgesics to farms for routine use under veterinary protocol
Ask farmers and producers specifically about their pain management protocols
Support veterinary education programs prioritizing pain recognition and management in livestock