Transport kills millions of farm animals annually through heat stress, injury, exhaustion, and respiratory disease; evidence-based improvements can dramatically reduce this toll.
Transport subjects farm animals to a convergence of stressors that are individually challenging and collectively overwhelming. Animals may have never left their familiar housing environment before transport and must suddenly navigate unfamiliar truck movement, noise, and social disruption. Extended journeys in summer heat cause life-threatening heat stress. Respiratory disease developing after transport, known as shipping fever in cattle, causes significant post-arrival suffering. Reducing transport duration, improving vehicle ventilation, and training drivers in animal handling techniques are the most impactful interventions.