Cattle transported for slaughter experience cumulative stress through loading, transport, and lairage, with welfare outcomes strongly influenced by stockmanship quality at each stage.
Cattle transport welfare depends critically on stockmanship quality at each transition point. Rough handling during loading causes acute fear and can injure animals. Transport duration determines cumulative stress and exhaustion. Mixing cattle in lairage who are unfamiliar with each other creates aggression and injury. Low-stress handling techniques developed by Temple Grandin and others dramatically reduce the fear response at each stage, producing both welfare and production quality benefits as stressed meat has worse quality characteristics. The commercial case for low-stress handling aligns with the welfare case in this instance.