Sheep Mulesing Welfare and Alternatives

Mulesing is a painful surgical procedure used to prevent flystrike in Merino sheep that is increasingly being replaced by breed selection and topical treatments as welfare concerns intensify.

Key Facts

Mulesing involves removing skin around the breech area of Merino lambs to create scar tissue less susceptible to fly strike.
The procedure causes acute and chronic pain lasting days to weeks and is typically performed without anaesthetic in most operations.
New Zealand banned mulesing in 2018 following industry agreements to phase it out.
Alternative approaches including selective breeding for plain body and breech, and topical larval treatments, reduce flystrike risk without surgery.
Retailers including ZARA and H&M have policies requiring suppliers to cease mulesing or use pain-relieved alternatives.

Welfare Considerations

Mulesing is one of the clearest examples of a painful husbandry procedure that has remained standard practice due to the economic cost of prevention rather than any absence of alternatives. The pain caused by mulesing — acute surgical pain followed by days of wound pain — is significant and preventable. The phasing out of mulesing is achievable, as New Zealand has demonstrated, through a combination of breed selection, improved fly management, and topical treatments.

What You Can Do

Choose wool and sheep products from sources that guarantee mulesing-free production.
Support retailer policies that require mulesing-free sourcing from their wool supply chains.
Advocate for mandatory anaesthetic and analgesia requirements as a minimum where mulesing continues.
Support research into breeding for breech configuration that reduces flystrike susceptibility without surgical intervention.