Routine painful procedures in livestock farming — castration, dehorning, tail docking — are performed without pain relief in most systems, creating a preventable welfare gap that evidence-based protocols can close.
The routine performance of highly painful procedures without analgesia in livestock represents one of the clearest evidence-practice gaps in animal welfare. The scientific evidence for pain during castration, dehorning, and tail docking is unambiguous, effective pain management protocols exist, and the economic case against analgesics is weak given production benefits. The barrier is primarily inertia, cost perception, and regulatory absence. Veterinarians, producers, and welfare advocates are increasingly aligned that pain management for routine procedures should be standard practice, and consumer and regulatory pressure is beginning to drive this change.