Livestock and legalities on the road

One of the most stressful times for an animal is when it is transported, and there are clear rules on what your obligations are when your animals are on the move.

there are some legal and welfare requirements that must be met. These apply whether you’re putting them on a truck to the works, taking them to another farm, or moving them on any sort of transport between properties you own or control.

The welfare requirements are covered by two documents: • the Animal Welfare Act 1999; • the Animal Welfare ( Transport within New Zealand) Code of Welfare 2016.

As animal owners you need to read these documents, to ensure you don’t act wrongly in ignorance. Many lifestyle block owners come to farm life with very little or no experience with livestock and presume that they’ll muddle through.

But often people don’t, and the sufferers for that ignorance are the animals in their care. Ignorance of how to do something is no defence, legally or morally, because the suffering you may cause is real.

Most provisions in the Act and Code are what most of us might think of as common sense. But if you have minimal knowledge of the basic care of an animal, its biology or behaviour, what you assume is sensible could be outside the code. No, calves won’t enjoy being tucked up on the back seat of your car with the heater going for a two-hour road trip. A cow looking depressed is not sad because she “knows where she’s going”. She’s ill and shouldn’t be transported and – if you don’t understand animals well – needs a visit from the vet to assess what’s wrong with her.

There are many reasons why transport is stressful for animals: it’s noisy, everything is moving, there may be unfamiliar animals in close proximity, and unfamiliar people around. They may be hungry or thirsty, too hot or cold, and may be subject to injury in a confined space.

Ruminants hide pain. For them to show signs of any discomfort is a big red flag and needs to be attended to immediately. Any sign of animal looking unwell must be checked before you consider transporting it.

If an animal shows any sign of abnormality before transport, a vet must be engaged to assess its suitability to complete the planned journey without