20 years of little action to end mulesing

This year, with the 20-year anniversary of the Australian wool industry’s commitment to a nationwide phase out of mulesing, RSPCA Australia is highlighting the disappointing lack of progress in the two decades since the promise was made.

Mulesing is a painful husbandry procedure relied on by the wool industry to prevent flystrike in sheep. Lambs are restrained on their back while crescent-shaped flaps of skin are cut from the breech area (backside, upper hind legs and/or tail) using sharp shears.

The original commitment made in 2004, in response to community concern and increasing awareness of sheep suffering, gave wool producers an end date of 2010 to phase out mulesing completely. But change has been unnecessarily slow since then, and the phase out end date was abandoned. Currently, less than 20% of Australian wool sold at auction is mulesing free.

“Australia is the only country still using this outdated practice,” said Dr Natalie Roadknight, Senior Scientific Officer at RSPCA Australia and veterinary specialist in animal welfare. “We know lambs suffer during the procedure for days, even weeks afterwards.”

“We simply can’t afford another twenty years of stalled progress - not when there is a viable, humane alternative already available, which is to breed flystrike-resistant sheep.”

“The last twenty years have shown that the industry can’t be trusted to prioritise animal welfare and end mulesing on its own, which is why the RSPCA, along with the rest of the animal welfare sector, is collectively reinforcing our call for a phase out of mulesing, and calling on state and territory governments to take a leadership role and legislate a phase out timeline.”

Dr Roadknight said that RSPCA Australia supports the recommendations in the recently released The Broken Promise report. “This includes a transition away from mulesing and an end date, with support for wool growers to breed flystrike-resistant sheep, mandatory pain relief during the transition period, and a review of the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep.”

“As one of the world’s largest wool producers, our animal welfare standards should be high, but by allowing mulesing to continue we are failing to meet not just community expectations, but also the expectations of over 300 international brands committed to sourcing non-mulesed wool, who will turn elsewhere for their supply if Australia fails to move with the times.”

“It’s time the wool industry put animal welfare first, because the sheep that the industry depends on deserve better.”

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20 years of little action to end mulesing

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