Transport system
Live Export Transport
Long-haul live animal shipping
What it is
Animals are loaded onto road vehicles and livestock ships and held there for the length of the journey between farms, markets, feedlots, ports, and slaughter destinations.
Where it sits in the system
Moving animals alive over long distances lets farms, markets, feedlots, and slaughterhouses in different places operate as one supply chain.
Welfare concern
Heat, cold, crowding, motion, fatigue, hunger, thirst, injury, and disease compound each other across a journey. On a long or badly run voyage they stack up on the same animal, and every delay extends them.
Worth being precise about
Transport is not automatically abusive, and a short well-run trip is a different thing from a long sea voyage. Journey length, ventilation, stocking density, weather, handling, food, water, and contingency planning decide the outcome.
