Long-distance transport of cattle within and beyond the EU causes significant welfare problems including exhaustion, dehydration, injury, and death, with ongoing regulatory debates about journey limits.
Cattle transported over long distances experience multiple welfare insults cumulatively. Mixing of unfamiliar animals in confined spaces causes fighting and injury. Inability to lie down for extended periods causes physical exhaustion and musculoskeletal pain. Dehydration and food deprivation cause physiological stress that compounds with crowding and unfamiliar environments. Journey-related injuries including bruising, slips, and falls cause pain and can result in animals becoming non-ambulatory. The most severe welfare impacts occur during export to third countries where EU regulations cease to apply, leaving animals subject to standards that may be far lower.