Horn disbudding in cattle is a widespread practice that causes significant pain, with analgesic protocols dramatically reducing welfare impacts.
Horn disbudding represents one of the clearest cases where a simple, affordable welfare intervention - local anesthesia - dramatically reduces suffering from a routine farm procedure. Disbudded calves without anesthesia show unambiguous acute pain responses: head shaking, kicking, avoidance, and elevated cortisol. These responses are almost entirely prevented by appropriate nerve block. The welfare case is not against disbudding itself (which reduces injury risk to cattle and humans) but against performing the procedure without pain management. In many countries, anesthesia-free disbudding remains legal and common despite clear evidence of its effectiveness and the availability of alternatives.