The transport of laboratory animals between breeding facilities and research institutions is a major but often overlooked source of acute welfare harm, with evidence that transport stress affects both animal welfare and experimental validity.
Laboratory animal transport is a welfare bottleneck where large numbers of animals experience concentrated acute stress that compounds the welfare burden of research participation. Animals transported by air experience altitude-related pressure changes, engine noise, and temperature fluctuations in addition to the motion, confinement, and social disruption common to all transport. Long-distance international shipments of primates in particular have been associated with high mortality and severe distress. The welfare cost of transport is not merely an animal welfare concern; stress-induced immunological and physiological changes persist for days and may affect experimental outcomes in ways that reduce the scientific value of the research while still imposing the welfare cost. Refinement strategies including familiar bedding material from the home cage, habituation to transport containers before shipment, and minimising journey time and complexity reduce both welfare harm and experimental confounding.