Transporting companion animals by car, train, and air involves welfare challenges including motion sickness, anxiety, and temperature stress. Good preparation and appropriate equipment significantly reduce transport welfare costs.
Transport welfare is a frequently underestimated welfare concern. For animals that experience transport as threatening or nauseating, travel is a regular source of genuine distress. Prevention through good carrier habituation, appropriate medication for motion sickness, and gradual exposure to travel reduces welfare costs substantially. The welfare risks of hot cars, long airline journeys in cargo, and unsecured transport in accidents represent acute and preventable welfare harms. Investment in preparation and appropriate equipment is justified by its lifetime welfare benefits.