How journey length, stocking density, vehicle design, and driver training determine cattle welfare during transport.
Cattle transport brings together multiple welfare challenges simultaneously: fear from handling, unfamiliar animals and vehicles, physical fatigue, dehydration, thermal stress, and injury risk. The interaction between these factors makes transport a critical welfare control point requiring systematic management. Long-distance international transport, particularly for live export, represents the most challenging welfare scenario with the greatest potential for severe compromise. The progressive adoption of monitoring technology, combined with strong regulatory minimum standards and their enforcement, are both necessary components of transport welfare improvement. The welfare case for limiting journey length to a few hours and developing local slaughter infrastructure is strong.