Dehorning of cattle is performed routinely to reduce injury risk, but causes significant acute and chronic pain. Pain management and polled genetics offer paths to welfare improvement across the beef and dairy industries.
Cattle dehorning without pain management inflicts unnecessary suffering that is entirely preventable. The industry rationale — reducing injury to other cattle and farm workers — is legitimate, but pain management does not compromise this objective while substantially improving welfare. The polled genetics route offers an even better long-term solution: eliminating the need for dehorning entirely through selective breeding. Both approaches require investment — in medications and in genetics programmes — that is justified by the welfare evidence and increasingly expected by major food company buyers.