Long-distance transport of live animals causes accumulated stress, injury, and death, with journey duration the most important variable in welfare outcome.
Transport duration is the single most important variable in live animal transport welfare, and reducing it is the highest-impact intervention available in transport welfare management. Stress during transport accumulates rather than diminishes with time — animals do not habituate to the stress of transport in the way they habituate to familiar environments. Rest stops reduce but do not eliminate accumulated welfare costs: an animal that has been stressed for 12 hours does not fully recover in a mandatory rest stop before continuing. Building slaughter capacity close to farms — enabling short journey times — is the long-term structural solution. Until that infrastructure exists, journey time limits that reflect welfare science rather than industry convenience are the most effective regulatory lever.