Sheep Mulesing: Welfare Costs and Alternatives in the Wool Industry

The welfare controversy around mulesing in Merino sheep, the evidence for and against the practice, and what alternatives are changing the industry.

Key Facts

Mulesing is the surgical removal of skin folds around the buttocks of Merino sheep to create a scarred, bare area resistant to flystrike
Flystrike (blowfly strike) is a painful and potentially fatal condition where flies lay eggs in moist wool folds; Merinos with heavy wool and wrinkly skin are particularly vulnerable
Mulesing is performed without anaesthesia or analgesia in most Australian production contexts, causing significant acute and post-operative pain
Australia produces approximately 80% of the world's Merino wool; mulesing is widespread but declining as alternatives improve
Alternatives include selective breeding for plain-bodied (low-wrinkle) sheep, topical treatments, jetting, and improved flystrike surveillance and treatment protocols
Major wool buyers including many European retailers have committed to phasing out mulesed wool from their supply chains
New Zealand banned mulesing in 2018; Australia has faced pressure to follow but has not yet legislated a ban

Welfare Considerations

Mulesing presents a genuine welfare dilemma: the procedure causes acute and post-operative pain, but the flystrike it prevents causes severe, prolonged suffering and death. The ethical question is whether this trade-off justifies performing painful surgery without pain relief, particularly when alternatives increasingly offer protection without the procedure. The welfare case against mulesing is strengthened by the availability of analgesics that substantially reduce pain if used, yet adoption of pain relief is not mandated in Australian regulations. Long-term selective breeding for low-wrinkle sheep progressively reduces flystrike susceptibility without any surgical intervention. The industry is moving — slowly — toward alternatives, driven by retailer pressure and improving genetics. The ethical endpoint should be elimination of the procedure through breeding and management, not simply reducing its immediate pain through analgesia alone.

What You Can Do

Choose wool products certified as non-mulesed or from farms with pain relief protocols as an interim measure
Support retailers that have made credible commitments to source non-mulesed wool with transparency about progress
Advocate for mandatory pain relief requirements for mulesing as an immediate step while the practice continues
Support breeding programmes developing low-wrinkle Merino genetics that eliminate mulesing necessity
Engage with wool industry bodies to accelerate the timeline for transitioning to mulesing-free production