The live export of livestock by sea involves some of the most severe documented welfare harms in animal agriculture, including heat stress, disease, high mortality, and slaughter in unregulated destination countries.
Live export subjects animals to prolonged stress from novel environments, crowding, and unfamiliar feed and water, followed by slaughter without welfare protections. The scale of mortality during voyages and the inability to regulate conditions at destination represent welfare harms that cannot be adequately mitigated within the live export system. The Australian sheep export ban demonstrates that policy change is achievable with sustained evidence-based campaigning.