Foot rot is a highly contagious, painful bacterial infection of the hoof that causes severe lameness in sheep and cattle, significantly reducing welfare and productivity when left untreated.
Foot rot causes severe, functionally significant pain — lame sheep kneel continuously to avoid weight-bearing, demonstrating the intensity of discomfort. Cattle with foot rot show characteristic reluctance to bear weight, altered gait, reduced feed intake, and milk yield depression. Pain assessment tools (sheep composite pain scale, AZDP cattle lameness scoring) allow structured monitoring that supports timely treatment. The welfare cost of delayed treatment is substantial: each day of untreated foot rot represents unnecessary suffering, and progression to joint infection causes irreversible damage with chronic pain outcomes. Prevention through vaccination, footbathing, biosecurity against introduction, and culling of chronic carriers addresses the welfare problem at source rather than relying on repeated treatment of affected individuals.