Livestock transport causes significant welfare compromise including injury, stress, and mortality. International standards aim to minimize these impacts while enabling necessary animal movements.
Livestock transport welfare involves the acute suffering of billions of animals annually during journeys that can last days. Heat stroke, cold stress, overcrowding injuries, dehydration, and fatigue accumulate into a massive welfare burden that short journey standards and good vehicle design significantly reduce. The most welfare-positive approach for high-volume slaughter movements is reducing transport distance through local slaughter infrastructure development, eliminating the need for long-distance transport altogether. Where transport is necessary, fitness assessment, appropriate loading densities, journey time limits, and in-transit monitoring represent the essential minimum welfare standard.