Livestock transport is one of the most welfare-compromising stages of farm animal life, and regulatory reforms are improving but inconsistently enforced.
Livestock transport welfare is compromised by the fundamentally stressful nature of the process: unfamiliar environments, novel smells, social disruption, noise, vibration, and temperature extremes during loading, travel, and unloading. Journey length is the most regulated parameter but also the most contested - longer journeys cause more cumulative stress, dehydration, and injury risk. The welfare of transport is also strongly influenced by driver skill, vehicle design, and loading density. Reforms phasing out long-distance live animal transport in favor of meat transport would eliminate the welfare harms of the most extreme journeys.