Dehorning and disbudding are among the most painful routine procedures performed on cattle, causing acute and post-procedural pain that can be substantially reduced through local anaesthesia and NSAIDs but is still frequently performed without adequate pain relief.
Dehorning and disbudding without pain relief causes unnecessary suffering that is technically preventable. The evidence base is clear: lidocaine blocks abolish the acute pain response during the procedure, and NSAIDs significantly reduce post-operative sensitivity and abnormal behaviour. Yet across many cattle-producing regions, these procedures are routinely performed without any anaesthesia or analgesia, often because of cost, time, or tradition. The welfare case for mandatory pain relief in all dehorning and disbudding is overwhelming. The long-term solution is genetic: selecting for the polled gene eliminates the need for the procedure entirely. Many major dairy and beef breeds now have polled genetics available, and their adoption rate is increasing as welfare awareness grows.