Mulesing of Merino sheep is a controversial practice that causes significant pain, with alternative treatments and breeding approaches offering welfare-superior solutions.
Mulesing welfare involves one of the most explicit examples of causing significant pain to prevent a different welfare harm - flystrike. Flystrike, where blowflies lay eggs in damp wool around the breech area and larvae burrow into living flesh, causes extreme suffering and death if untreated. Mulesing prevents this by removing the wrinkled skin that retains moisture and attracts flies, creating a smoother, drier area. The procedure itself, performed without anaesthesia in standard Australian practice, causes acute severe pain for hours and ongoing discomfort during healing over weeks. The welfare arithmetic is contested: supporters argue that mulesing prevents the worse welfare harm of flystrike; opponents argue that alternative prevention methods including topical insecticides, selective breeding for bare-breech genetics, and intensive monitoring can prevent flystrike without the mulesing welfare harm. New Zealand banned mulesing in 2018 while maintaining viable Merino wool production using alternative approaches, demonstrating that the practice is not essential. UK consumers who choose wool from UK breeds or certified mulesing-free Merino sources can avoid supporting the practice through their purchasing decisions.