Mulesing - removing skin folds from sheep hindquarters - is controversial welfare practice to prevent flystrike. Less painful alternatives are increasingly available and adoption is growing.
Mulesing presents a genuine welfare dilemma: a painful procedure performed to prevent a potentially more painful condition. Flystrike, where maggots burrow into living tissue, causes extreme suffering and death if not treated. However, mulesing performed without pain relief is itself a severely painful experience lasting days during healing. The welfare calculus has been complicated by the availability of effective pain relief and the development of breed alternatives that make mulesing unnecessary. The industry response has been gradual - pain relief adoption has increased but is not universal, and the transition to non-mulesed breeding takes time. Consumer and retailer pressure has accelerated the transition in some markets. The welfare goal is clear: pain-free alternatives should replace mulesing completely.