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| Courtesy johnsalozzoart.com |
Over 20 million merino lambs are currently mulesed each year in Australia where more than half the world’s merino wool is produced. Although most will have their tail cut off and the males will be castrated, mulesing is by far the most controversial of sheep husbandry procedures, because of its apparent cruelty.
What is Mulesing?
Mulesing was
developed in 1927 by John Mules with an accidental slip of the hand shears. For
nearly 80 odd years, it has been a routine husbandry procedure for the majority
of merino sheep in Australia. Merinos have woolly wrinkles and folds in their
skin, which, around the tail and breech area, become moist with urine and
contaminated with feces. Particularly in hot and humid conditions, blowflies
are attracted to this moist area where they lay eggs. When the eggs hatch,
maggots eat away the flesh of the living animal — this is called flystrike.
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| Merino sheep with wrinkles.ericasnailsandmore.blogspot.com |
The procedure was developed to
spare sheep agony and possible death. Practitioners carve flaps of skin
from around a lamb’s buttocks
and tail to create an area of scar tissue. This bare, stretched skin has no
folds or wrinkles to hold moisture and feces, so it becomes less attractive to
blowflies. Mulesing is considered a
skilled surgical procedure. Although, by Australian law, it may be performed by unskilled
persons.
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| Flystrike victim. courtesy peta.org |
Australia’s National Farmers Federation says that
"mulesing remains the most effective practical way to eliminate the risk
of flystrike in sheep" and that "without mulesing up to 3,000,000
sheep a year could die a slow and agonizing death from flystrike.”
What’s Wrong with Mulesing?
Farmers throw lambs onto
their backs and restrain their legs between metal bars. They use sheep shears
to carve out flesh from their rumps. This is done without antiseptics, anesthesia or
painkillers. Apparently money spent on such niceties would cut into their profits.
Research shows the pain of mulesing is similar to that of castration, but it
lasts longer— acute pain up to 48 hours and discomfort for two weeks during
healing. Even worse, the exposed, bloody wounds often become infected and can
actually attract more flies, leading
to flystrike before the wound has healed.
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| Mulesing victims. Courtesy Wikipedia.org |
Needless to say, many animal rights
activists consider mulesing without pain killers to be inhumane and unnecessary—
particularly when there are effective alternatives. They have also argued that
the procedure may mask genetic susceptibility to flystrike which permits this
genetic weakness to continue unabated.
The Australian Veterinary
Association (AVA) recognizes the negative animal welfare implications of
mulesing, but in "the absence of more humane alternatives" for preventing
flystrike, the AVA accepts the practice. But, the AVA also recommends the use
of pain relief and antiseptics-- and the accreditation of mulesing
practitioners.
Although the Australian
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also accepts
mulesing, done properly as a last resort, only when the risk of flystrike is
high; the animal rights organization, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) strongly opposes mulesing. PETA maintains that the practice is cruel and
painful, and that more humane alternatives exist.
More Humane Alternatives
Alternatives to mulesing must
meet health standards for both the lamb and its handlers in addition to being
safe for consumption as wool or meat, and there are many alternatives practiced
all over the globe— including within Australia which is still
the hotbed of resistance to reform.
Australia produces more than half
the world's merino wool. Merino sheep, who are not
native to Australia and are
unsuited to the hot, humid climate; have been bred by the wool industry to have
excessively wrinkled skin in order to grow more wool all over their bodies and
are extremely susceptible to not only flystrike, but heat prostration.
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| Crutching instead of mulesing.Courtesy butternutvalleyfarm.com |
Crutching is
the common-sense removal of wool around the tail, anus (and vulva in ewes) when
necessary. Crutching should be done regularly, and the flock should be
monitored closely to determine frequency. Mulesing, however, is the permanent
removal of skin to avoid the repetitive labor of crutching.
Blowfly control
should be a integral part of animal husbandry. Such an approach includes farm
management practices that take into account the timing of shearing and
crutching, the
timing of tail docking (if required), and strategic application
of chemical treatments (if required)-- and, very importantly, regular
inspection of the flock. Spray washing
is an effective deterrent to flies.
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| Blowfly. Courtesy deviantart.com |
Tea tree oil
applied as a dip provides a 100% kill rate of first stage maggots and a strong
repellent effect against adult flies, which prevented eggs being laid on the
wool for up to six weeks.
Intradermal injections and
topical application of protein-based treatments which kill
wool follicles and tighten skin in the breech area is being researched and
shows much promise.
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| Maggot infestation. Farmers' Weekly UK |
Breed less wrinkly sheep who do not
need to be mulesed, because they are better suited for the Australian climate.
Studies have shown that flystrike is lower in plain bodied Merino sheep.
Experts state that an intensive breeding program could produce an entire
flystrike-resistant flock within two to five years.
A Note About Sheep
Some ill-informed farmers
have suggested that performing operations such as castration, mulesing, or
cutting tails off without pain relief does not
cause sheep pain, since there is no audible evidence of their discomfort.
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| Courtesy abc.net.au |
Progress Against Mulesing
Mutilating sheep is not just cruel;
it’s also ineffective. There has been a
growing recognition that better husbandry is the answer, not mutilating
animals. In March 2008 Australia’s NSW
Farmers Association called for an immediate ban on mulesing in order to stave
off threatened boycotts of Australian wool by up to 60 foreign (mostly
European) retailers following negative publicity in Sweden and other
Scandinavian countries. On that same day the Western Australian
Department of Agriculture announced that it would end mulesing of lambs on its
research stations.
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| Aussie sheep station. flickr.com |
The animal rights activist group,
People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has convinced 34 international
companies with more than 3000 stores across the US and Europe to join its
campaign to boycott Australian wool from mulesed flocks. These retailers
include Next, Hugo Boss, Adidas,
Abercrombie & Fitch, Timberland, H&M, American Eagle, Liz Claiborne
and Perry Ellis International along
with others.
What You Can Do
The most powerful message each of
us can send to the wool industry is that caring consumers will not support
animal cruelty.
- If you choose to buy wool products, inquire of your retailer whether the wool is ethically sourced— that is, from sheep that are not mulesed.
- Australia produces more than half the world's merino wool. Determine with your retailer if the wool is merino, and if it is— determine whether it comes from Down Under.
- If your retailer is unaware of the animal cruelty implications of mulesed sheep, educate them.
Further Reading
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals opposes mulesing
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/wool-industry/mulesing/
Australian Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
espouses a moderate position on mulesing.
Read about flystrike and mulesing
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/mulesing.php
New Merino certification services
http://newmerino.com.au/wp/about-2/
Read about flystrike
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesandconditions/f/FAQ_flystrike.htm
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