WoolProducers Australia CEO Jo Hall.
AUSTRALIA’S peak wool grower body has pushed back strongly on a report criticising the lack of progress on ending mulesing in the nation’s sheep flocks.
WoolProducers Australia’s said the report from FOUR PAWS, Humane Society International Australia and the Australian Animal Alliance proved that animal rights activists can’t be taken seriously.
WoolProducers said the report, ‘The Broken Promise: The Australian wool industry’s failure to end live lamb cutting’ focuses on the term ‘live lamb cutting’, it considered is 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 chief executive officer Jo Hall said.
Ms Hall protested the absurdity of the new terminology, suggesting that if imaginative language is to start being employed, mulesing supporters might as well refer to the practice as “lifetime lamb protection procedure.”
WoolProducers said ‘live lamb cutting’ has been described as a loaded phrase designed to attract attention and provoke strong emotional responses.
“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,” she said.
WoolProducers said the report fails to provide the necessary context regarding the practice of mulesing, while also ignoring the widespread use of pain relief.
“The 2024 Annual Report of the Sheep Sustainability Framework states that while 57.7 percent of producers mules their Merino ewe lambs, a massive 89.7pc 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 90pc voluntary uptake of any practice is impressive. This demonstrates that wool growers prioritise animal welfare,” Ms Hall said.
Ms Hall said WoolProducers is urging other state jurisdictions to catch up to industry standards and legislate pain relief for mulesing. Victoria is currently the only state that requires producers to administer a registered pain-relieving product when mulesing sheep. WoolProducers has a policy to mandate pain relief when mulesing sheep, supported by Sheep Producers Australia.
WoolProducers said by neglecting to address the rationale behind mulesing, the report misleads the public and undermines genuine discussions on animal welfare.
“We encourage a rational and informed dialogue on animal welfare, one that is based on facts rather than sensationalism. It is vital that discussions about animal practices remain grounded in reality, ensuring the well-being of livestock while addressing the concerns of the community.”
“These groups have removed any credibility they may have by making up terms and repeating lies and demonstrate that they have no place in genuine discussions about Australia’s livestock industries,” she said.
RSPCA backs report, sticks with ‘mulesing’
RSPCA Australia has supported 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,” RSPCA Australia’s senior scientific officer Dr Natalie Roadknight said.
“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,” Dr Roadknight said.
“Australia is the only country still using this outdated practice.
“We know lambs suffer during the procedure for days, even weeks afterwards,” she said.
“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.”
An RSPCA Australia spokesperson said the organisation has been using ‘mulesing’ as it’s the term our audiences would be most familiar with from other communications (e.g., https://www.rspca.org.au/latest-news/blog/mulesing-welfare-issue-we-need-be-talking-about/).
But the spokesperson said RSPCA Australia understood and supported the decision by other groups to use a different term, including one like ‘live lamb cutting’, that is more descriptive for a lay audience.
“Our focus is on the welfare issues with the practice and the need to phase mulesing out in favour of breeding flystrike-resistant sheep, regardless of the terminology used.”
There are 100’s of thousands of blow fly resistant merinos in Australia now. We alone have 25,000 blow fly resistant merinos across 3 locations in NSW. We started down this track of breeding and didn’t think it would really be possible, however, it has been fantastic. No body strike across 25,000 sheep through any season. Havnt mulesed or used any blow fly preventative chemicals for 20 years. No way will we return to the type of merino we once had. Just come and have a look. All invited. Ag Departments, Politicians, AWI, Sheep Producers Australia, Victorians, Stud breeders, Commercial breeders are all welcome. Don’t just say it can’t be done unless you look at what is possible and is tried and tested.
Having been in the animal health for well over 30 years not once have I seen a release of microscopic film clips of blowfly maggots eating the flesh of sheep. This is the cruelest thing that can happen and a terrible thing to watch. Australia runs sheep on huge tracts of land and the farmers do care for their animals. To the animal libbers and the RSPCA I say stick to your companion animals.
It’s good to see how someone who has no idea about sheep graziers trying to protect there sheep from blowflies, dags, bad shearing and crutching etc. I find it hurtful and belittling how they can sit there and load bullets to tear down a natural fibre industry.
OK, how about you animal libbers with your petroleum coats, wooden houses, uneducated cats and dogs as confined pets go out and buy 50 thousand acres of land then buy 10,000 sheep, be in debt to the eyeballs and run these nice Merino sheep the way you want to. See how you go in 10 years time with every negative person from outside telling you how you should run your enterprise. Leave us to do our own job and you look after your job.