Blowfly strike (myiasis) causes severe suffering in sheep worldwide. Managing flystrike humanely requires moving beyond mulesing toward integrated prevention strategies.
Flystrike is a severe welfare problem causing acute and prolonged suffering in untreated animals — larvae consuming living flesh while the host remains conscious is among the most extreme suffering documented in farmed animals. The welfare challenge is that prevention involves trade-offs: mulesing without analgesia causes significant procedural pain to prevent the greater suffering of flystrike; chemical preventives (spinosad, insect growth regulators) avoid surgery but require repeated application and carry environmental concerns; genetic selection for plain breech is the most sustainable solution but takes generations to implement across a flock. Research on local anesthetic protocols for mulesing and transition to regional anesthesia during the phase-out period is ongoing. New Zealand banned mulesing; Australia is pursuing a voluntary phase-out supported by genetic improvement programs.