Farm Animal Transport: Reducing Journey Suffering

Transport is one of the most welfare-compromising stages in farm animal lives, involving stress, injury, thermal extremes, and exhaustion that affect billions of animals annually.

Key Facts

An estimated 4 billion farm animals are transported for slaughter annually in the EU alone
The EU limits cattle transport to 29 hours with water breaks; campaigners argue this is far too long
Thermal stress during transport is a leading cause of in-transit mortality, particularly in pigs in summer
Mixing of unfamiliar animals during transport loading causes aggression and injury
Slaughter at farm of origin (mobile slaughter units) eliminates transport stress entirely for individual animals
Journey length is directly correlated with transport mortality and welfare outcome measures

Welfare Considerations

Transport welfare is one of the most tractable yet neglected areas of farm animal welfare improvement. The suffering caused by long journeys — stress, injury, thermal extremes, dehydration, and exhaustion — is well-documented and largely preventable through shorter journeys, better vehicle standards, and slaughter-at-origin alternatives. The EU's proposed 8-hour journey limit for slaughter animals, supported by welfare organizations, would significantly reduce transport suffering for the billions of animals moved annually. Local and mobile slaughter infrastructure investment offers additional welfare benefits by eliminating long-distance transport entirely.

What You Can Do

Support Compassion in World Farming and other organizations campaigning for shorter maximum journey times
Choose locally produced meat from farms with slaughter facilities close to home to reduce transport chains
Advocate for mobile slaughter unit programs that allow on-farm slaughter for welfare-positive end of life
Ask food producers and retailers about maximum journey times in their farm animal supply chains