Mulesing — surgical removal of skin around the breech of Merino sheep — is practiced in Australia to prevent fly strike. Welfare evidence and consumer pressure have driven significant reform.
Mulesing welfare involves a genuine trade-off that makes it more complex than practices with no compensating benefit. The procedure causes significant acute pain — skin is cut from conscious lambs without analgesia in conventional practice. However, it effectively prevents flystrike, a condition where blowflies lay eggs in damp fleece around the breech, with resulting maggot infestation causing suffering and death that is arguably worse than the mulesing procedure. The welfare case for alternatives — pain-relieving mulesing, genetic selection for fly-strike resistant wool types, and breeding away from the wrinkled skin that predisposes to strike — is strong. Consumer pressure from brands and retailers has driven significant uptake of pain relief for mulesing and accelerated development of alternatives.