Drought events driven by climate change are increasingly creating acute welfare emergencies for livestock as water, feed, and pasture availability collapse.
Drought creates rapid welfare deterioration in livestock: water deprivation causes acute distress, feed scarcity causes progressive body condition loss and starvation, and heat stress compounds both. Farmers facing drought often experience profound distress themselves, which can delay welfare-critical decisions about destocking or euthanasia. The welfare response to drought requires support systems for both animals and farmers, with emergency welfare funds and mental health resources deployed in parallel.