Mulesing is a painful procedure used to prevent flystrike in Merino sheep. The welfare debate has driven significant industry change and the search for alternatives.
The mulesing debate illustrates the welfare trade-off between a painful preventive procedure and the severe welfare cost of flystrike if that procedure is not performed. The welfare case against mulesing without analgesia is clear: it causes significant acute pain and distress. However, the welfare case against flystrike is equally compelling: infested animals experience intense suffering from maggots consuming living tissue. The most welfare-positive solutions involve combination of breeding for strike-resistant genetics, improved management to detect at-risk animals, effective analgesia where mulesing continues, and transition away from the procedure as genetics improve.