More than 100 fashion brands locally and internationally have now signed a brand letter of intent to stand against the practice of mulesing sheep in the Australian wool industry.
Mulesing involves cutting crescent-shaped flaps of skin from around a lamb’s breech and tail, according to the RSPCA, in a bid to prevent flystrike – a painful and potentially fatal condition in animals, caused by blowflies laying eggs in moist, soiled areas, which hatch into maggots that feed on the animal's skin and tissue.
Brands that have signed the letter of intent by global animal welfare organisation Four Paws have either fully excluded mulesed wool from their product range or are committed to doing so by 2030.
According to Four Paws, signatories include leading names such as Zara, Patagonia and Adidas, alongside local brands such as Aje, Kathmandu, Spell and Icebreaker.
“The message from brands is clear, they do not support live lamb cutting as part of their supply chain when viable, science-based alternatives exist, and are already in use by some Australian wool suppliers,” Four Paws Australia national director Rebecca Linigen said.
“If the wool industry wants to do business with leading global brands, they must support all wool growers transitioning away from live lamb cutting.”
In a post on its website, the RSPCA writes that it is unacceptable to continue to breed sheep that are susceptible to flystrike and therefore require an ongoing need for mulesing or other painful procedures to manage flystrike risk.
“The RSPCA urges the wool industry to continue to invest research, development and extension effort into a comprehensive flystrike-resistant sheep-breeding program. On-farm extension to facilitate the rapid adoption of breeding solutions must be a priority for the wool industry,” the RSPCA wrote.
“The RSPCA urges retailers sourcing Australian wool to indicate to suppliers their intention to purchase only non-mulesed wool within the shortest possible time frame, noting that such wool should be sourced from flystrike-resistant sheep.”
In 2004, Australian wool industry leaders unanimously committed to phasing out mulesing by 2010. In 2009, the industry abandoned this promise.
An estimated 140 million lambs have been subjected to mulesing since 2010, and the RSPCA claims the industry seems unwilling to change.
The RSPCA adds that the more humane solution is to breed flystrike-resistant sheep.
“It’s a solution that the wool industry has been aware of for almost as long as mulesing has been around,” The RSPCA writes on its website. “This is because the wrinkly breeds of Merino that are bred today have become this way due to purposeful genetic selection for high wrinkle (excessive skin) in the belief that more skin means more wool.
“The issue of wrinkly sheep that are prone to flystrike is an issue caused by people, and therefore it’s the responsibility of the people of the wool industry to resolve it.”
Transitioning to flystrike-resistant sheep can take only a few generations of breeding plain-bodied (low/no wrinkle) sheep, the animal welfare organisation claims.
“It would have been wholly possible for every wool producer to honour the commitment to end mulesing in the twenty years since the promise was made. Instead, millions of dollars have been spent researching other measures that might replace mulesing.
“The wool industry failed to keep its promise quite simply because it failed to act on a proven solution that has long been available.”
Another option is a vaccine, which a research team at the CSIRO is currently developing.
In a statement late last year, peak body WoolProducers Australia (WoolProducers) condemned animal activists groups that use the term “live lamb cutting”, calling it a “sensationalised label intended to replace the established terminology of mulesing.”
“It’s an interesting approach from groups who are purporting to be serious animal welfare experts and who are seeking a seat at the table with government in animal welfare discussions, to start making up terms,” WoolProducers CEO Jo Hall said.
Hall emphasised the absurdity of the new terminology, suggesting that if imaginative language is to start being employed, supporters might as well refer to mulesing as “lifetime lamb protection procedure.”
“The term itself is almost laughable and has clearly been workshopped to try and be as dramatic and misleading as possible. The use of the word ‘cutting’ implies a more extensive procedure than what mulesing actually is,” Hall said.
The 2024 Annual Report of the Sheep Sustainability Framework confirmed that while 57.7 per cent of Australia wool producers mules their Merino ewe lambs, 89.7 per cent of those producers use appropriate pain relief when conducting the practice.
“While pain relief for mulesing is mandatory in Victoria, which was recently joined by Tasmania in making this a requirement, a nearly 90 per cent voluntary uptake of any practice is impressive. This demonstrates that wool growers prioritise animal welfare,” Hall said.
“WoolProducers are urging other state jurisdictions to catch up to industry standards and legislate pain relief for mulesing.”
Hall did not comment on the proposed action of breeding flystrike-resistant sheep.