Live cattle exported from Europe to third countries including the Middle East and North Africa face some of the worst welfare conditions in the global livestock trade.
Long-distance live cattle export welfare represents one of the most egregious welfare failures in the global food system. Animals that travel for weeks in hot, crowded ships arrive at destinations with no welfare oversight and may be slaughtered using methods that would be illegal in their country of origin. The combination of extreme heat stress, prolonged confinement, dehydration, and rough handling at destination causes suffering of extraordinary duration and intensity. Replacing live export with trade in carcasses and meat would eliminate this welfare harm while maintaining economic relationships.