Dehorning is routinely performed on dairy and beef cattle to prevent injury, but it causes significant pain and stress, and welfare-centered approaches emphasize pain management and horn-free genetics.
Dehorning without adequate pain management is one of the most widespread welfare problems in cattle production. The procedure causes measurable acute pain, post-operative discomfort, and behavioral changes indicating suffering. The good news is that effective pain control using local anesthetics and anti-inflammatory drugs is available and affordable. Better still, breeding for naturally polled genetics eliminates the need for the procedure entirely. Consumer-facing welfare labels and certification standards are increasingly requiring or incentivizing both pain management and polled breeding programs.