Pig transport to market is a high-welfare-risk period where practical management improvements can significantly reduce suffering and death.
Pig transport welfare improvements are achievable within current commercial systems through management discipline. Temperature management - not loading during extreme heat or cold, providing ventilation, monitoring vehicle interior temperature - prevents the acute suffering of heat stroke and the welfare harm of cold stress. Minimizing group mixing by transporting pigs in the groups they were raised in reduces fighting and injury. These improvements cost little but require management attention and operational discipline that economic pressure may discourage. The welfare improvements available from better practice are real - farms and processors that prioritize transport welfare show demonstrably lower transport mortality and injury rates.