Animal welfare organisations unite to help fast-track an end to painful mulesing
New partnership to end mulesing in Australia
13 Dec 2021 – Three leading animal welfare organisations, FOUR PAWS, Humane Society International (HSI) Australia and RSPCA Australia, announced today a partnership to work towards an end to mulesing across Australia.
The partnership will include regular contact with major international brands as well as numerous wool growers across Australia, in response to demand for non-mulesed wool that is stronger than ever.
The three organisations are encouraging the wool industry to fast-track the move away from mulesing through the uptake of better genetics to produce non-mulesed wool that is both sustainable and responsible, satisfying growing consumer demands.
Spokespersons for the three groups say that with the newly elected board of wool industry body Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) announced recently, industry, producers and the community are looking for leadership on this issue. One of the goals in AWI’s Wool 2030 Strategy promises to build grower confidence to manage flystrike risk without mulesing, and the animal welfare advocates believe this goal can easily be achieved with the right leadership, support and incentives.
Each year, more than 10 million lambs have wrinkly skin sliced from around their breech and tail area in a painful procedure called mulesing. It is done to create scar tissue that is resistant to flystrike. Breeding plain-bodied sheep that are naturally resistant to flystrike is a much more effective and humane solution. Plain-bodied sheep do not need to be mulesed, the genetics are tested by the industry, and available now.
Michael Kellner
(he/him)PR International Officer
+43 (0) 664 504 38 97
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FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org