Dehorning cattle is widespread in dairy and beef production to reduce injuries between animals and to handlers, but the method and timing significantly affect welfare outcomes.
Welfare evidence consistently shows that disbudding without pain relief causes significant acute and chronic pain in calves. The combination of local anaesthetic and NSAIDs provides substantially better welfare outcomes but compliance on farms is inconsistent. Regulatory enforcement is challenging given the large number of farms and procedures. The ultimate welfare solution is breeding polled cattle - genetic approaches can eliminate the need for the procedure entirely. Industry momentum toward polled breeding is growing but requires broader uptake to achieve population-level impact.