Transport is one of the most significant acute welfare challenges for cattle, with journey duration, vehicle design, stocking density, and handler skill all affecting outcomes.
Transport combines multiple welfare stressors simultaneously: unfamiliar animals, novel environment, space restriction, inability to perform normal behaviors, noise, vibration, and temperature extremes. Cattle transported long distances show measurable immune suppression lasting days after arrival, increasing disease susceptibility. The EU's existing maximum journey times are widely considered inadequate by welfare scientists. Short-journey and local slaughter systems that minimize transport distance represent the most significant welfare improvement available for cattle slaughter logistics.