Castration of male cattle is routinely performed for management and meat quality reasons. The procedure causes significant acute pain and, without analgesia, unnecessary suffering that is preventable with available veterinary products.
Cattle castration without analgesia causes definite and significant suffering. Ischaemic pain from rubber rings is particularly prolonged — cattle may show pain-associated behaviours for 72+ hours following elastration. The availability of effective, inexpensive anaesthetic and analgesic options means that this suffering is entirely preventable. The persistent practice of castration without pain management reflects economic inertia and insufficient regulatory requirements rather than any genuine necessity. Many countries now recommend or require analgesia for surgical castration, and the welfare case for mandatory pain relief across all castration methods is well-supported by the evidence. Younger age at castration, combined with multimodal analgesia, represents the most welfare-protective approach when castration is necessary.