13 Dec 2021 – Three leading animal welfare organisations, FOUR PAWS, Humane Society International (HSI) Australia and RSPCA Australia, announced today a partnership to work towards an end to mulesing across Australia. 

The partnership will include regular contact with major international brands as well as numerous wool growers across Australia, in response to demand for non-mulesed wool that is stronger than ever.

The three organisations are encouraging the wool industry to fast-track the move away from mulesing through the uptake of better genetics to produce non-mulesed wool that is both sustainable and responsible, satisfying growing consumer demands.

Spokespersons for the three groups say that with the newly elected board of wool industry body Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) announced recently, industry, producers and the community are looking for leadership on this issue. One of the goals in AWI’s Wool 2030 Strategy promises to build grower confidence to manage flystrike risk without mulesing, and the animal welfare advocates believe this goal can easily be achieved with the right leadership, support and incentives.

Each year, more than 10 million lambs have wrinkly skin sliced from around their breech and tail area in a painful procedure called mulesing. It is done to create scar tissue that is resistant to flystrike. Breeding plain-bodied sheep that are naturally resistant to flystrike is a much more effective and humane solution. Plain-bodied sheep do not need to be mulesed, the genetics are tested by the industry, and available now.