Centuries of selective breeding for high wool production has created sheep so woolly they cannot survive without human shearing — a welfare dependency with complex ethical implications for both farming and animal rescue.
The dependence of high-wool sheep breeds on human shearing represents a created welfare obligation — selective breeding generated animals that cannot survive independently. This does not automatically mean the arrangement is unethical, but it does mean that humans bear a permanent obligation to provide adequate shearing management. Welfare concerns arise from shearing stress, wool harvesting practices, and flystrike prevention. Mulesing in particular causes days of pain from wound healing and is performed without pain relief in most operations globally. Development of self-shedding breeds that do not require shearing eliminates both the shearing stress and the flystrike risk from wool soiling, representing a breeding-based welfare improvement worth supporting.