Long-distance transport of cattle — both within countries and internationally as live export — causes significant welfare problems. Evidence supports maximum journey time limits and better transport conditions.
Long-distance cattle transport causes welfare harm through multiple pathways operating simultaneously. The physiological stress of loading — novel environment, mixing with unfamiliar animals, vibration, and temperature fluctuation — elevates cortisol, suppresses immune function, and increases susceptibility to bovine respiratory disease, a major post-transport welfare and mortality problem. Dehydration compounds stress because trained animals often refuse unfamiliar water at rest points. Journey time is the most important modifiable variable: welfare deteriorates progressively with journey duration, and the 29-hour EU maximum is substantially longer than journey times associated with good welfare outcomes in research studies. Live export by sea — where cattle spend days or weeks on vessels — extends these welfare harms to an extreme degree, with additional risks from heat, overcrowding, and disease spread in confined vessel spaces. Transition to trade in chilled and frozen meat rather than live animals eliminates transport welfare entirely while maintaining economic activity in producer countries.