Even short livestock transport journeys cause stress and welfare harm. Understanding what minimum standards should look like helps advocates engage with policy reform.
Short livestock transport welfare is often assumed to be unproblematic because the journey is brief. But the welfare impact occurs at all stages - the unfamiliarity of the transport vehicle, loading stress, motion sickness, social disruption, and temperature extremes affect animals regardless of journey duration. The most welfare-critical improvement for short journeys is handling quality at loading and unloading: skilled, calm handlers using low-stress techniques dramatically reduce the welfare impact of necessary transport. Stunner effectiveness at slaughter is also affected by transport-related stress - welfare at transport affects welfare at slaughter.