Long-distance livestock transport causes significant stress, injury, and death in cattle, and reducing transport duration and improving journey conditions are key welfare priorities.
Cattle transport welfare encompasses multiple overlapping stressors: the novelty of the vehicle and loading process, the sensory overload of unfamiliar animals and environments, physiological stress from motion and temperature variation, and the social disruption of mixing groups. These stressors compound across the duration of the journey, making long transport particularly harmful. The welfare case for reducing journey lengths and improving in-transit conditions is robust and well-evidenced. Slaughter closer to the farm of origin eliminates most transport welfare harms while also reducing mortality losses and improving meat quality — aligning welfare and economic interests.