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Legal, welfare and ethical issues related to mulesing in sheep
Answers
Legal requirements
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What limitations are placed on the age of sheep for mulesing?
In NSW it is illegal to mules sheep over the age of 12 months, unless under veterinary supervision.
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What is the ideal age of sheep for mulesing?
Ideally mulesing should be carried out at marking time when they are 4-6 weeks old.
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Is anaesthetic required before mulesing?
Anesthetic is only required for the mulesing of sheep after the age of 12 months and the mulesing must be performed by a veterinarian.
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Are all sheep breeds mulesed?
Only sheep of the Merino breed are mulesed. Other breeds tend to be more plain-bodied and therefore do not have the wrinkles of skin that provide favourable sites for the blowflies to infest. Figures indicate that approximately 70% of all Merino sheep are mulesed.
Animal welfare issues
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Why is mulesing routinely carried out?
The blowfly, has been documented, as the most detrimental parasite affecting the Australian sheep and wool industry. Blowflies seek to lay eggs in the damp wool of sheep. The flesh eating maggots that hatch have the potential to cause wounds that can lead to blood loss, septicaemia and death.
Mulesing is the surgical removal of skin around the breech and tail area of lambs to reduce the chance of breech and tail fly strike. The resulting skin is tighter and remains more clean and dry than if not mulesed.
By removing the skin folds from around the breech and tail area, a potential site for blowflies to lay their eggs is removed, thus drastically reducing the incidences of blowfly strike.
An integrated pest management (IPM) approach is required to control blowfly strike. This involves the husbandry activities of tail docking, jetting and routine checking of flocks to locate and treat affected animals, as well as mulesing.
Blowflies are usually most active after rain when the temperatures are warm to hot.
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What are some of the risks to the animal due to mulesing?
Because mulesing results in quite a large open wound there is the risk of infection and flystrike.
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List some practices that help to reduce the stress on animals caused by the operation of mulesing.
To reduce the chance of flystrike, the operation should be carried out during periods of low fly numbers, i.e. during the cooler months or dry periods. The wound should be sprayed with an antibacterial fly powder or spray to reduce the chance of infection and deter flies from the wound area.
To further reduce the chance of infection, the operation should be carried out with sharp, clean implements. Lambs should be vaccinated to reduce the chance of clostridial infections.
Lambs should be marked and mulesed in small groups as this decreases the amount of time they are separated from their mothers, increases their ability to find their mothers and reduces the amount of time they are left in the yards where they suffer increased risk of infection.
No matter what method is used it is important to have a skilled operator carrying out the mulesing. This increases the success rate and the efficiency of the operation. Increased efficiency leads to lambs back with their mothers more quickly and hence less stress on them. -
Research is being carried out to find alternatives to mulesing. Briefly describe two alternatives that are currently being
researched.
Much work is being done to select and breed sheep with bare breech and resistance to blowfly maggots. Ideally sheep should be smooth-skinned presenting many less sites that are likely to be struck. Although this alternative to mulesing will take a long period of time to achieve, it is likely to provide the best solution to the problem of flystrike.
The Australian Wool Innovation is working on the development of plastic clips that can be applied to wrinkles in the breech. These act in a similar way to elastrator rings used for tail docking and castration, causing the excess skin of the breech area to be shed.
The University of Adelaide has identified a protein that kills wool follicles and tightens the skin. Investigations are being carried out to development of an application for automated delivery of the protein into the breech area.
Ethical issues
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While mulesing causes stress to the animals and considerable work for the producer, the advantages of it are obviously seen to outweigh both of
these. Write your thoughts about mulesing and how the advantages must be considered against the disadvantages. Make sure you consider:
- the pain and stress on the animal
- the reasons for carrying out mulesing
- possible outcomes if mulesing was not carried out
- practical alternatives to mulesing
- the advantages to the producer
- your background and own personal experiences (these help form your opinions).
Anyone who has seen the graphic results of a blowfly strike on sheep will be acutely aware of the pain and stress that the option of not mulesing Merino sheep may result in. So while progress is slow and we edge towards viable alternatives to mulesing, for many, mulesing will remain a necessary evil. If mulesing is to be a part of the management strategies to assist in the control of flystrike then attention needs to be given to reduce the pain and stress caused on each animal that is mulesed.
Mulesing should be carried out by skilled operators, using appropriate instruments that are sharp and cleaned.
It is important that only those lambs that have wrinkles in the breech area should be mulesed. Each farmer should select animals for breeding that are more plain-bodied and individuals that are excessively wrinkly or are struck more frequently should be culled.
Ideally lambs should be mulesed at 4 – 6 weeks of age as research has shown that younger animals recover more quickly than older animals. Lambs should be mulesed in small groups so that they can be returned to their mothers and released onto pastures as quickly as possible. This reduces the time lambs are in dirt yards where the risk of infection is increased.
To further reduce the risk of disease, lambs should be vaccinated and the wounds sprayed with antibacterial fly powder or spray.
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