Transport of laboratory animals between facilities causes acute stress. Proper transport protocols, vehicle conditions, and handling during transit are essential welfare protections that are regulated but inconsistently applied.
Laboratory animal transport causes measurable welfare harms through stress responses that persist for days after arrival. Animals exposed to transport vibration, noise, unfamiliar environments, and disrupted social groups show elevated stress hormones, reduced immune function, and altered behaviour that indicate genuine negative welfare states. These physiological changes are not trivial — they can persist for up to a week and affect both animal welfare and research validity simultaneously. Animals used in experiments before full acclimation produce physiologically confounded data, meaning their welfare was compromised without scientific benefit. Regulatory frameworks require welfare-protective transport but interpretation and enforcement are inconsistent. Refinement of transport protocols — including appropriate container design, social housing during transport, temperature control, and mandatory acclimation — improves both welfare and research quality.