Assessment of cattle welfare in the hours before slaughter reveals important information about the impact of transport and lairage management on animal wellbeing.
The pre-slaughter period is a concentrated welfare risk point where the cumulative effects of transport stress, unfamiliarity, and social disruption are expressed. Dark cutting beef provides a commercial incentive for better pre-slaughter welfare management - a rare alignment of welfare and economic interests. Lairage conditions that allow rest, water access, and social stability significantly reduce the welfare harm of this period.