ANIMAL welfare groups have drawn a proverbial line in the sand, saying the mulesing of sheep must be stopped by 2030.
RSPCA, Four Paws, and Humane Society International have given the sheep industry less than nine years to abandon the long-criticised surgical procedure, which is commonly used to prevent blowfly strike on Merino sheep.
The three groups say mulesing will not be needed if producers focus on the genetics of plain bodied, blowfly resistant sheep.
In addition, the groups say they will continue to agitate among major international fashion brands to discourage them from using wool from mulesed sheep.
They groups say this agitation will also incentivise growers, as it will increase an already growing demand for mulesing-free wool.
The groups also want to use of pain relief to be made mandatory until mulesing is no longer required. Pain relief is estimated to be used on about 80 per cent of the sheep mulesed each year.
Australian Wool Innovation acting chief executive officer John Roberts said it was up to Australia's 76,000 woolgrowers to decide how they managed their sheep.
"AWI invests heavily in combatting fly strike but does not and will not tell growers how they manage their flock," Mr Roberts said.
AWI invests heavily in combatting fly strike but does not and will not tell growers how they manage their flock.
- John Roberts, Australian Wool Innovation
"In the last few months AWI has announced an additional $1.6 million in funding to fast track a potential flystrike vaccine and to roll out more genomics and educational tools."
Mr Roberts said the recently released Wool 2030 plan had been developed by the industry. One of its stated objectives is to "develop tools and systems so that growers have the confidence and the capacity to manage flystrike without mulesing."
Attempts to bring an early halt to mulesing by targeting fashion brands appears to be working. Only last week German fashion brand Hugo Boss said it would exclusively source mulesing-free wool for its pure wool suits from 2025, using only mulesing-free wool in its entire product range from 2030.
According to Four Paws more than 180 Australian and international textile brands now oppose mulesing, with about a third of those brand requiring a certification system for mulesing-free wool.
Four Paws' wool expert Rebecca Picallo Gil said more than 3000 woolgrowers were already producing high quality non-mulesed wool from flystrike resistant flocks.
"Mulesing-free wool is the future and the Australian wool industry bodies are best placed to support their members to put mulesing in the past and prepare for the future," Ms Picallo Gil said.
HSI's animal welfare manager Georgie Dolphin said bringing an end to mulesing was easily achievable because of "tested" genetics were already available.
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