Mulesing — surgically removing strips of wool-bearing skin around the breech of Merino sheep — is performed to prevent flystrike in Australian sheep farming. It remains one of the most contested animal welfare practices in global agriculture.
Mulesing presents a genuine welfare dilemma: it causes significant acute pain but aims to prevent the potentially more severe welfare harm of flystrike. The welfare calculus depends on flystrike risk in each environment and whether effective alternatives are available. The strongest welfare case is for transition to selective breeding of plain-bodied Merinos with fewer breech wrinkles, which eliminates the need for mulesing without increasing flystrike risk. This transition is feasible but requires decades of breeding programme investment. In the interim, the welfare case is strongest for pain relief during mulesing (now recommended by Australian Veterinary Association) and accelerated transition to non-mulesing alternatives wherever feasible.