Transporting animals unfit for transport is both illegal in many jurisdictions and a major welfare failure. Assessing fitness before loading prevents enormous preventable suffering.
Transport of unfit animals causes severe suffering and often results in dead-on-arrival or emergency slaughter at the destination. Proper fitness assessment at loading is the most important welfare intervention in transport. Both regulatory enforcement and industry culture need to support farm workers in making the decision to reject animals from transport when welfare warrants it.