Heat stress in dairy cattle is a major welfare and production challenge that is worsening with climate change, causing reduced feed intake, respiratory distress, reproductive failure, and elevated disease risk.
Heat stress causes significant and prolonged suffering in high-producing dairy cows, whose metabolism generates considerable body heat on top of external temperature load. Panting, reduced feed intake, elevated body temperature, and reproductive failure all indicate animal suffering. Without adequate cooling provision, cows in hot weather experience conditions incompatible with good welfare. Investment in shade, ventilation, and cooling systems is both an ethical requirement and economically rational given the productivity losses associated with heat stress.