Sheep have historically received inadequate pain management for routine procedures. Evidence-based pain recognition and treatment are changing outcomes for millions of animals.
Sheep pain management has historically been a neglected area despite the large numbers of animals involved in routine painful procedures. The stoic nature of sheep, their status as a lower-value species relative to dairy cattle, and the economics of extensive farming systems have all contributed to under-treatment of pain. The development and adoption of validated sheep pain assessment tools, combined with accessible and affordable analgesics, is changing this situation. Welfare standards and certification schemes that require pain relief for routine procedures — castration, tail docking, and disbudding — directly improve welfare for millions of sheep. The economic argument that pain management reduces the production costs of stress and welfare compromise supports the welfare case for analgesic use.