you must have been raised somewhere not rural because it appears that you saw it just only in your 'last trip to nepal'. besides, the regular 'treatments' they get everyday, in the villages, are far more inhumane than what you saw and can ever imagine. consider the truck-ride as a perk for the animals, before the great 'liberation' from the all the treatments at 'home'.
indeed this is an act of brutalism but they are going to be slaughtered anyways after they reach ktm...who cares if they die en route? and the sad part is, they actually do suffocate and die...and to make it worse, we do go to the buspark chheuko everest momo to chew on the horror happened in the truck 4 hours ago, with a bottle of mountain dew in our hand. dhanya ho haami nepali.