Long-distance transport of sheep causes significant cumulative welfare harm through dehydration, exhaustion, injury, and disease, with strong evidence supporting stricter journey time limits.
Long-distance sheep transport causes cumulative welfare harm that increases non-linearly with journey duration. Sheep are particularly susceptible to transport stress due to their highly social, flocking nature and vulnerability to exhaustion. Dehydration during journeys is problematic because sheep often refuse to drink unfamiliar water at rest stops, making the legal rest stop less welfare-protective than for other species. The evidence consistently shows that 8 hours represents a reasonable maximum beyond which significant welfare compromise accumulates. Replacing live export with carcass or chilled meat trade eliminates the welfare burden of the most extreme long-distance transports entirely.