Pig transport is a significant welfare event causing fear, injury, and physiological stress. Evidence-based transport standards including journey time limits and stocking density regulations can substantially reduce this suffering.
Pig transport welfare encompasses a chain of stressors from initial loading through final unloading that combine to create a significant welfare burden for every pig transported. The loading process itself — moving animals from familiar group housing into an unfamiliar, noisy, moving vehicle — triggers fear responses that are amplified by the use of electric prods, shouting, and rough handling. In transit, the combination of motion, noise, temperature fluctuation, and mixing with unfamiliar pigs creates sustained stress. Mixing is particularly problematic: pigs establish social hierarchies through fighting, and mixing unfamiliar animals in the confined space of a transport vehicle results in fighting that causes skin lesions, muscle damage, and occasionally death. Research has established clear dose-response relationships between journey duration and welfare outcomes, supporting regulatory journey time limits. The most effective welfare improvements combine structural measures — journey time limits, stocking density standards, temperature monitoring requirements — with handling training that reduces the stress of loading and unloading through low-stress techniques.