Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) has adopted a new flystrike prevention policy which it claims supports a scientific, fact-based approach to protect the health, welfare and productivity of Australian sheep, and to ensure they are protected from the risks of disease and death.
It claims that scientific publications show that, without mulesing, the risk of flystrike attack is 40-100%, while it is just 1-3% with mulesing. As a result, it believes sheep in Australia remain highly vulnerable to flystrike because of the Lucilia cuprina blowfly, and that mulesing plays a crucial role in preventing the disease and in supporting wool production. AWI points out that, while the need for mulesing is diminishing as a result of genetic research and breeding and alternative methods of breech wrinkle removal, these options are not sufficiently developed to support a total halt of the procedure in 2010. It believes breeding strategies will take many years to be fully effective and that, while clips are now commercially available, they are not suitable for all sheep. An intradermal is still in development.
In the meantime, it claims there have been significant welfare advances in surgical practice and the development of topical anaesthetics to allow mulesing to be undertaken, where needed, with minimal discomfort to lambs and in accordance with acceptable welfare standards for surgical procedures in livestock.
