Pigs die in significant numbers during transport to slaughter, representing a preventable welfare crisis that reflects systemic problems across the supply chain.
Transport mortality represents only the most visible tip of a much larger welfare iceberg. For every pig that dies, many more experience significant suffering through the transport process - heat stroke, exhaustion, injury from mixing fights, and the profound stress of an entirely alien environment. Pigs are highly intelligent, stress-sensitive animals with strong social bonds. Being mixed with unfamiliar animals in a moving vehicle, without food, water, or familiar sensory cues, causes measurable physiological stress responses. The industry largely treats transport mortality as a financial loss problem rather than a welfare problem, which shapes the inadequacy of interventions.