PETA Australia
September 2018
Mulesing is a crude attempt to create a smoother skin that won’t collect moisture. But the exposed, bloody wounds often become infected or attract flies anyway....
Cruelty-free fashion that doesn’t harm a hair, a strand of fur, or a feather on an animal’s head is the way of the future.
Sheep and lambs after cruel mulesings...
The government of New Zealand has banned the practice of mulesing, meaning
that the legs of lambs used for wool will no longer be restrained between
metal bars while farmers carve huge chunks of skin from their backside.
The new rules were introduced under the Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures)
Regulations 2018 and will come into effect on 1 October.
Meanwhile, in Australia, it’s been more than a decade since the wool
industry’s peakbody –ironically named Australian Wool Innovation Limited –
promised to fast-track the industry away from mulesing.
And yet, more than 80 per cent of our country’s wool producers continue this
barbaric practice, most of them without offering any pain relief.
In Australia’s wool industry, merino sheep are specifically bred to have
wrinkly skin, which means more wool per animal. The wrinkles collect urine
and moisture, which can attract flies to lay eggs in the folds of skin, and
the hatched maggots then eat the sheep alive.
Mulesing is a crude attempt to create a smoother skin that won’t collect
moisture. But the exposed, bloody wounds often become infected or attract
flies anyway. Many sheep who have undergone the mulesing mutilation still
endure slow, agonising deaths.
Even after they’re mulesed, sheep continue to suffer for wool production.
Multiple investigations show that workers punch scared sheep in the face,
stamp and stand on their heads and necks, and carelessly cut gaping wounds
into their bodies.
Australia’s failure to take meaningful steps towards better care of sheep is
shameful and damaging to our country’s international reputation.
Cruelty-free fashion that doesn’t harm a hair, a strand of fur, or a feather
on an animal’s head is the way of the future.