Heat stress is an increasingly serious welfare threat to cattle as global temperatures rise, requiring proactive management to prevent suffering and death.
Heat stress causes acute suffering through hyperthermia, respiratory distress, and the inability of cattle to engage in normal feeding and social behaviors. Dairy cows in confined housing during heat waves experience particularly acute welfare harm as they cannot seek shade, cool surfaces, or natural water sources. Chronic subacute heat stress - below the threshold for obvious clinical signs but above the thermoneutral zone - causes persistent discomfort and physiological stress that reduces immune function and increases vulnerability to disease. Providing basic mitigation - shade, water access, and ventilation - is both an ethical obligation and a production necessity, yet remains inadequate on many farms.