On-farm euthanasia of sick and injured livestock is a critical welfare intervention that requires stockperson competence and access to approved methods.
Failure to euthanise when an animal cannot recover is one of the most serious welfare failures in farming. Barriers include reluctance to accept treatment failure, cost of veterinary euthanasia, insufficient training in on-farm methods, and emotional difficulty of the decision. Training stockpersons in competent captive bolt use and creating clear decision frameworks for euthanasia significantly reduces the time animals spend in unnecessary suffering.