While the industry remains focussed on the commitment to phase out mulesing by 2010, less attention is being paid to the various undertakings to promote animal welfare in the meantime.

These include expanding accreditation for mulesers and fast-tracking interim measures to ensure animal welfare continues to be an absolute priority. Currently, mulesing and tail docking remain the most effective ways of dealing with blowfly strike around the breech. However research into alternatives is continuing.

What can you do now?

Accreditation. As part of the commitment, the industry agreed that mulesing contractors would be accreditated by December 2006, and woolgrowers who do their own mulesing by December 2008. This ensures that mulesing is undertaken with uniform, best practice animal welfare standards. The National Mulesing Assurance Program (NMAP) was launched by AWI and WoolProducers in early 2006 and has accredited over 600 participants covering a range of issues from shear sharpening to post-operative management strategies.

Pain relief.There is currently a product to apply post-mulesing which provides extended pain relief, helps to prevent blood loss and improves healing. RSPCA Australia has said it sees the mulesing pain relief spray as a positive interim measure but still strongly supports the complete phase-out of mulesing and replacement of mulesing with other approaches to managing fly-strike in Australian sheep.

Recently, the US National Retail Federation endorsed Bayer’s Better Choices program, which addresses all issues of merino lamb management, including the options for pain relief at mulesing. NRF Vice-President and International Trade Counsel Erik Autor said, “We also acknowledge progress on the development for the commercial market of new, efficacious, widely available, and easily administered analgesics in fulfilment of Point 6 of the Declaration of Commitments".

Researchers are also looking at pre-mulesing pain relief options

T recently released a study co-authored by CSIRO Livestock Industries scientists, David Paull, Dr Caroline Lee, Dr Ian Colditz, Dr Steve Atkinson and Dr Andrew Fisher. According to Dr Fisher, "Lambs that received the analgesic carprofen 90 minutes before mulesing, combined with a proprietary local anaesthetic spray, exhibited fewer of the pain responses we expect to see following mulesing, such as hunched backs and stiff walking. Most significantly they showed much lower levels of cortisol in their blood than lambs treated other ways."

For an overview of all the alternatives click here.