Alternatives to mulesing are increasingly viable, with genetic selection and breech modification techniques offering flystrike protection without painful skin removal.
Mulesing welfare has become one of the most contested issues in wool production, with genuine welfare considerations on both sides. The procedure itself causes significant acute pain and is performed without anesthesia across millions of sheep annually. However, the alternative - flystrike - causes horrific suffering if prevention fails. The welfare resolution lies in transitioning to preventive approaches that avoid both mulesing and flystrike: genetic selection for plain-bodied sheep with less skin wrinkling, electronic wool identification systems enabling targeted management, and alternative chemical and physical breech modification. Progress has been meaningful but slow, with economic inertia maintaining mulesing in many operations.