Transport is one of the most stressful events in a farm animal's life. Journey duration, vehicle design, loading practices, and thermal conditions all determine welfare outcomes during transit.
Transport is a welfare challenge because it combines multiple simultaneous stressors: unfamiliar environment, motion, noise, mixing with unfamiliar animals, loading and unloading stress, and potential extremes of temperature. Each of these alone would be stressful; combined, they create a significant welfare impact that accumulates with journey duration. Welfare science supports shorter journeys, better vehicle design, trained drivers, appropriate loading density, and temperature monitoring as the most impactful interventions. Consumer pressure for local slaughter and reduced transport distances is an important demand-side driver for change.