The welfare impact of long-distance livestock transport and the evidence for maximum journey time limits that protect animal welfare.
Long-distance live animal transport is a welfare harm that is economically motivated but largely unnecessary from a technical standpoint. Refrigerated carcass export achieves equivalent trade objectives without subjecting sentient animals to days of stress, dehydration, and disease. The animals who suffer most are those sent on the longest journeys to the least welfare-regulated destinations — precisely the journeys that generate the most trade value. The welfare case for transitioning from live to carcass export is strong, well-supported by evidence, and increasingly backed by public opinion and regulatory movement in major exporting countries.