Mulesing — the surgical removal of skin folds around sheep hindquarters to prevent flystrike — is a painful procedure that is increasingly being replaced by alternative welfare-friendly strategies.
Mulesing presents a genuine welfare dilemma: the procedure itself causes significant acute pain and a wound that takes weeks to heal, but it prevents flystrike, a condition that causes severe suffering and death. Without effective fly prevention, the alternative — untreated flystrike — involves maggots consuming living tissue, an extremely painful experience. The ethical path forward lies in eliminating the need for mulesing through genetic selection and management rather than accepting either harm. Breeding programs selecting for plain-bodied Merinos that do not develop the wrinkled skin folds that trap moisture and attract flies are making steady progress. Improved flystrike detection and treatment technologies, combined with targeted insecticide use, provide effective flystrike control without mulesing in well-managed flocks. Where mulesing continues, anesthesia and analgesia should be mandatory.