Velvet antler harvesting in farmed deer raises significant welfare concerns as the removal of growing antler causes pain and stress to deer under restraint.
Velvet antler welfare involves removing living, highly innervated tissue that causes significant pain when harvested without appropriate pain management. Deer as prey animals experience significant fear-related stress from the restraint required for the procedure, compounding the pain of tissue removal. New Zealand legislation requiring analgesia for velvet removal represents a model approach to managing this welfare concern while allowing the industry to continue. The welfare case for expanding mandatory analgesia requirements to all velvet-producing countries is strong. The limited evidence for velvet efficacy as a traditional medicine product raises questions about the welfare cost-benefit ratio of the practice.