Transporting farm animals is among the most stressful events in their lives, with long journeys causing dehydration, injury, and disease that affect hundreds of millions of animals globally each year.
Transport subjects farm animals to multiple simultaneous stressors — social disruption from mixing unfamiliar animals, novel environments, movement-induced nausea in some species, temperature extremes, food and water deprivation, and the sustained stress of handling. These stressors are cumulative, with longer journeys creating compounding welfare deterioration. Live export over sea in particular has documented severe welfare failures including extreme heat, disease outbreaks, and mass mortality. Welfare improvement requires shorter journeys, better conditions during transport, and shifting from live animal export to chilled or frozen meat trade.