Livestock haulers' views about dairy cattle transport in Atlantic Canada

Livestock hauler and dairy farmer perspectives about cull dairy cattle transport and cattle transport regulations in British Columbia, Canada

“…[…] Have you heard at all what they’re doing or have done about how long animals are supposed to be on cattle liners?” One hauler (T177) did mention provisions for compromised animals in the regulations but did not define the conditions: “ Yeah, so there’s two, I’m trying to think of the term of the other… You’ve got compromised and you’ve got, basically, can’t remember the other term, but […] under those circumstances, as I remember it, […] they would be in your stock trailer, but they would be separate, you know, in order to ship them, some have to go direct to slaughter and you know, some can’t go through an auction yard.” After introducing the new regulations in February 2020, the CFIA allowed for a two-year transition period before enforcement to allow for time to educate haulers, farmers, and other related professionals about the new regulations (Government of Canada 2022 ). The results from our study support the work of Marshall et al ( 2022 ) and Hendricks et al ( 2023 ) in suggesting that these education efforts do not seem to have been successful. Although all participants knew of the existence of the regulations, they typically did not know the details.…”

“…And where [for] myself, it was always something you did because you had passion in it, right? […] That is definitely an issue that the drivers aren’t caring for the animals that are on the back of them.” Similarly, Hendricks et al ( 2023 ) also found that some haulers had negative opinions towards other haulers, felt that others operated dishonestly, were overly motivated by profit, and did not care for animals, and that such haulers should face consequences.…”

“…They were likely doing the right thing already but [changing regulations] make [s] it more difficult [for them] to do their job and do it properly. ” Disregard for the regulations by some haulers was also raised by Hendricks et al ( 2023 ) where some haulers working in Atlantic Canada openly stated that they would simply defy the regulations by working around the CFIA. In the current study, one farmer (F398) also expressed concerns that the regulations may harm animal welfare because animals will need to be reloaded more often, which may lead to poor animal handling practices: “ I think a lot of [the regulations] are probably a little bit overdone.…”

“…So, I think within reason, […] anything under, say, 16, 18 hours, it’s probably less stressful to just stay […] on the truck and get there and be done with it rather than adding in extra stress with a stop. ” Concern that mandatory rest stops could harm animal welfare was also raised by haulers interviewed by Hendricks et al ( 2023 ). Research on the efficacy of rest stops is mixed.…”

Are regulations addressing farm animal welfare issues during live transportation fit for purpose? A multi-country jurisdictional check

“…It is well established that animals transported during long journeys are at greater risks for compromised welfare [41]. Increased travel duration has been associated with increased mortality in cattle [61] (for contrasting results, see [62]), calves [63], pigs [50,51]; especially when associated with elevated temperatures [64] (for contrasting results, see [65]; for a review, see [66]) and poultry [55][56][57]59,60]. An increase in stress biomarkers following transport has been reported, for example, in pigs [67], horses [68] and cattle [69].…”