The period immediately before slaughter including transport, lairage, and pre-slaughter handling represents one of the most welfare-critical phases of cattle production, with stress during this period causing both animal suffering and meat quality problems.
Pre-slaughter welfare management represents a critical period where good practices can reduce the cumulative stress burden animals carry through their final hours of life, and where failures have the most concentrated welfare impacts. Transport to slaughter exposes cattle to motion, unfamiliar animals, noise, and handling, all of which cause acute stress that compounds if lairage conditions are inadequate. The welfare improvements pioneered by Temple Grandin through curved race designs, solid side panels, and non-slip flooring that reduce visual distractions and prevent slipping have been documented to reduce vocalizations, electric goad use, and behavioral indicators of fear at slaughter. These changes are now widely implemented in major slaughter facilities and demonstrate that attention to animal behavioral needs during the slaughter process significantly reduces suffering even within the constraints of high-throughput commercial operations.