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End Mulesing (Live Lamb Cutting) in Australia
- Christopher Noonan
- Mar 16
- 3 min read
Updated: May 1
Author: Christopher Noonan | Publish date: 03/12/2024
Problem Identification:
In Australia, it is standard practise for farmers to use shears to cut chunks of skin from a lamb’s tail and buttocks area.
According to the Alliance for Animals, around 10 million lambs are mulesed in Australia every year.
This procedure is known to cause significant pain and suffering to the lambs and has been described by animal rights organisations as ‘brutal’ and ‘traumatising’.
Context:
The Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep outline national standards for the treatment of farm animals. Each state is individually responsible for the implementation of these standards. The standards ban some behaviours nationally that threaten animal welfare, such as the killing by a blow to the forehead of sheep over 10kg.
These standards currently allow farmers to practise mulesing, also known as ‘live lamb cutting’. This is the practice of using shears to cut chunks of skin from a lamb’s tail and buttocks area. Mulesing is known to protect against flystrike, a condition affecting Merino sheep in which blowflies lay their eggs in folds of skin and cause a potentially fatal maggot infestation. However, some Merino sheep lines have been bred to have fewer folds, and therefore do not require mulesing. Approximately 1 in 10 Australian wool producers currently avoid mulesing by breeding sheep with plain bodies to produce non-mulesed wool.
Victoria and Tasmania are the only states that mandate pain relief for lambs being mulesed. In all other states, there is no requirement that pain relief be administered during or after the procedure, which can cause pain lasting for weeks.
Animal rights groups such as the Alliance for Animals, Humane Society International Australia, and FOUR PAWS Australia are campaigning for mulesing to be phased out. They argue that mulesing is not needed as farmers can selectively breed their sheep to have fewer folds, which removes the need for mulesing.
The transition to flystrike-resistant sheep is reported to take farmers 3–5 years. Campaigners therefore recommend that the industry pivot to non-mulesed wool by 2030. The above groups recommend that, during the transition period, pain relief is mandated for mulesing throughout Australia.
There is growing public concern over the practice of mulesing, to which the fashion industry has responded – more than 220 wool buyers, including Big W, Adidas, and Nike, have committed to buying exclusively non-mulesed wool.
There is international precedent for banning mulesing. New Zealand, having previously employed mulesing on the same grounds as Australia, outlawed the practice in 2018. Today, Australia is the only country in the world where mulesing is still legally practised.
Solution Identification:
Amend the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep, section 7, to phase out mulesing by 2030, and to mandate pain relief for lambs being mulesed in the meantime.
This could alleviate the suffering of millions of lambs every year.
Advice:
The Minister for Agriculture should amend the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep to phase out mulesing by 2030 and mandate pain relief for lambs being mulesed in the meantime at the next opportunity.
Public Support:
Where to go to learn more:
Australian Alliance for Animals – Provides an overview of the issues with mulesing and suggests strategies for phasing out live lamb cutting. Read more here.
Humane Society International – Provides information on alternatives to mulesing and the history of the practice in Australia. Read more here.
FOUR PAWS Australia – Frequently asked questions about mulesing. See the answers here.
Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement:
N/a.
Support
If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper, or suggest amendments, please email Info@foreaustralia.com.
Reference list:
Australian Alliance for Animals. (n.d.). Ending live lamb cutting. https://www.allianceforanimals.org.au/end-live-lamb-cutting
Animal Health Australia. (2016). Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep. https://animalwelfarestandards.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sheep-Standards-and-Guidelines-for-Endorsed-Jan-2016-061017.pdf
Sheep Central. (2023, June 28). More than 220 brands and retailers back non-mulesed wool. https://www.sheepcentral.com/more-than-220-brands-and-retailers-back-non-mulesed-wool/
Four Paws Australia. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions on Live Lamb Cutting (Mulesing). (2024). https://www.four-paws.org.au/about-us/faqs/faqs-on-mulesing?utm_campaign=13173092302&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=633051497501&utm_term=&adgroupid=143688613352&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwooq3BhB3EiwAYqYoEokamoHB2P9pY5XPEjjCv-IN2DrMj3WR83lpFHrrc5jFrDEgCynW_hoCJfAQAvD_BwE
Humane Society International Australia. (n.d.). Live Lamb Cutting (Mulesing). https://hsi.org.au/animal-welfare/live-lamb-cutting-mulesing/
PGG Wrightson. (n.d.). Mulesing ban provides NZ with competitive advantage. (n.d.). https://www.pggwrightson.co.nz/news/mulesing-ban-provides-nz-competitive-advantage#:~:text=As%20of%201%20October%2C%20New
Peta. (18.09.2018). New Zealand Bans Mulesing! https://www.peta.org.au/news/new-zealand-bans-mulesing/?
RSPCA Australia. (n.d.). Mulesing - the welfare issue we need to be talking about. https://www.rspca.org.au/latest-news/blog/mulesing-welfare-issue-we-need-be-talking-about/
RSPCA Australia. (n.d.). Sheep mulesing. https://www.rspca.org.au/key-issues/sheep-mulesing/#:~:text=In%20Victoria%20and%20Tasmania%2C%20it
Spencer, E. (2024, January 16). “Nobody likes mulesing”: the market shift changing Australia’s wool industry. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/17/nobody-likes-mulesing-the-market-shift-changing-australias-wool-industry
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