Long-distance transport of live animals is one of the most welfare-compromising practices in global agriculture, causing stress, injury, disease, and death across millions of animals annually.
Live animal transport causes multi-system welfare harm. Social disruption from mixing unfamiliar animals triggers aggression and stress. Motion sickness during road and sea transport causes nausea and disorientation. Temperature extremes — summer heat in poorly ventilated trucks or winter cold — cause thermal stress. Food and water restriction causes hunger and dehydration. Injuries from falls, crowding, and fighting are common. The cumulative welfare burden over long journeys can be severe, particularly for animals unsuited to the stress of transport — young, old, pregnant, or sick animals that are included in transport flows despite elevated vulnerability. The welfare case for replacing live animal transport with chilled meat transport is strong — it eliminates transport welfare costs entirely while maintaining trade flows and in many cases improving product quality.