Ending live lamb cutting

Live lamb cutting, also known as mulesing, is a mutilation procedure performed on 2 to 12-week-old lambs, where large skin folds around their buttocks and base of their tail are cut off with metal shears, commonly without any pain relief.

The practice of live lamb cutting involves restraining young lambs on their backs in a metal cradle and using metal shears, similar to garden shears, to cut large folds of skin away from around their buttocks. This traumatising mutilation, is often undertaken without little to no pain relief and is currently performed on approximately 70% of Merino wool-producing lambs in Australia. 

Live lamb cutting is performed to lower outbreaks of flystrike – which is another animal welfare issue. Blowflies are attracted to sheep’s skin folds because they retain moisture, especially the area around the buttocks that may have some faeces and urine. In an attempt to reduce flystrike, farmers cut off skin folds around the buttocks to cause scarring, leaving the area bare of wool and wrinkles. 

It is important to note that live lamb cutting does not solve the problem of fly infestation. Flies can still lay eggs in skin folds in other areas of the sheep’s body.

Flystrike is a condition that occurs when flies lay their eggs in the sheep’s skin folds, and maggots then feed on the sheep’s skin and flesh. This is particularly prevalent in the Australian wool industry, largely due to the type of sheep farmed (wrinkly merino sheep), the climate and the presence of the Australian blowfly (Lucilia cuprina).

Despite knowing the pain and suffering live lamb cutting causes, providing anaesthetics and analgesics is not mandatory in most Australian states. In July 2020, Victoria became the first state to require some pain relief, and Tasmania will soon follow suit from July 2024. 

While pain relief should be mandatory across Australia, current pain relief options are inadequate as they do not fully alleviate the pain caused by this procedure. There are two types of pain relief available – fast acting, short-lasting anaesthetics and slow acting, longer-lasting analgesics (PDF). The best available pain management option is to use both as they serve different purposes, however, only 8% of woolgrowers surveyed administer both.

‘Mulesing’ was named after the man who invented it over a hundred years ago and diminishes the cruel reality of the practice.

The term ‘live lamb cutting’ more accurately describes the procedure, for the benefit of consumers and the broader community. 

Yes, there are alternatives to live lamb cutting. The most ethical option is for sheep producers to transition to plain-bodied sheep, who are naturally resistant to flystrike. This is because plain-bodied sheep have few to no skin folds, which reduces the ability of flies to lay their eggs on the sheep’s body. This viable alternative provides lifelong and whole-body protection against flystrike.

No, Australia is currently the only country in the world where lambs are subjected to this painful mutilation. It is time for this outdated practice to end.