Travel is stressful for most companion animals, and evidence-based approaches to preparation, vehicle conditions, and carrier design can significantly reduce this suffering.
Travel stress in companion animals is often dismissed as unavoidable, yet evidence shows it is highly variable and substantially reducible through appropriate preparation and management. Animals that have been gradually desensitised to carriers and vehicle movement show dramatically lower stress than unprepared animals. The welfare of animals transported in airline cargo is particularly concerning, with reports of deaths and injuries concentrated in short-nosed breeds. Owner awareness of travel welfare and investment in preparation pays dividends in animal wellbeing and the quality of the human-animal relationship.