Dagging - removing soiled wool from the breech area of sheep - is a routine but welfare-relevant management procedure that prevents flystrike and maintains cleanliness.
Dagging welfare involves the direct handling stress of the procedure and the welfare benefit of reducing flystrike risk that makes the intervention worthwhile. Sheep handled for dagging experience restraint stress, but this is time-limited and dramatically less harmful than the prolonged suffering of untreated flystrike. Good dagging technique that minimizes skin damage, performed by experienced handlers with appropriate equipment, represents a net welfare positive. The availability of pour-on insecticide preventatives alongside dagging provides multi-modal prevention that reduces the frequency and severity of strike episodes. Genetic selection for reduced breech soiling represents the most sustainable long-term welfare solution.