Transport mortality in cattle represents a direct welfare failure occurring at significant scale globally, with identifiable causes that targeted welfare interventions can address.
Transport mortality welfare encompasses both the mortality statistics themselves - each animal representing a death during what should be a survivable journey - and the larger proportion of animals that survive transport while experiencing significant suffering from stress, injury, and heat. The welfare approach to transport mortality requires system-level thinking: pre-transport fitness assessment, vehicle design standards, driver training in low-stress handling, journey time limits, and post-transport mortality monitoring as a welfare indicator. The strong economic incentive to reduce transport mortality aligns with welfare improvement in this area, creating conditions for voluntary adoption of better standards.